Random Pieces and Ideas
by HetaWriter - HetaReader
Summary: A collection of pieces of literature ideas; is put up for your amusement and entertainment. More information inside. Ratings, pairings and genre are various since this will be a collection of ideas. Rated T for now just to be safe - characters and genres continuously changing depending on chapter contents.
1. Once Upon a Time: Zeus & Cronos

_Greeting, HetaWriter/HetaReader here._

_What is this, you may ask? No, it's not a new story (I have others to complete), rather; these are just a collection of random **pieces **that I had typed up before, but either lost motivation or couldn't find a way to complete it, so it became a "dead end" fic, or just time constraints since I've got a couple of fics left to work on and complete._

_That saying so, I'm going to probably upload some old stuff here, and most likely just pieces of writing that I'll most likely _**never **_ever complete due to time constraints and the aforementioned lack of motivation and the time constraints. I don't even know why I'm posting this - probably just to entertain you guys? Who knows...XD_

_Well, this first one is a first chapter from a story I originally planned to publish before **HetaVoice!**, but chose not to in the end because the pieces were just about _everywhere _and this had no plan; rather it was run on impulse.__  
_

_Piece of info about pieces:_

_**Piece Title:** Once Upon a Time  
**Chapter No.: **1  
**Chapter Title: **Zeus & Cronos  
**Rating: **T (due to swearing because of Lovino, sexual references, violence in later chapters)  
**Warning: **Human AU, swearing, crack pairing (you know that's how I roll by now, right?)  
**Pairing/s: **RomaBelg, SpaViet, CanTai, bunch of others, but they're the more outlined ones.  
**Chapter Summary: **Lovino and his older cousin Antonio move to a new place after some family problems to start a new life. Upon entering the new complex named "Grimm", they start to develop nice bonds with the people around them and soon, even Lovino, who is known for scowling and being the "Grumpy Prince" finds his inner child and smile back while growing up.  
**Inspiration/s: **Fairytales, folk tales, mythology, Aesop's fables, Spirited Away, someone wrote a story that adapted Hetalia characters into those fairytales/mythology  
_

_I will warn however that there _will _be A/N's throughout these chapters because there'll be a bunch of skipping certain things and crap like that because I work impulsively if I don't have a plan written first. _

_There are also "Music Corners" that were originally intended for this piece because music can really help create a setting. At least, that's what I believe. :)_

_Read if you want. XD_

* * *

[_**Music Corner:**_ **Ano Hi no Kawa E** by _Joe Hisaishi_, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi]

"Aww…come on, Lovi~! Smile! We're going to a new place, after all!" the Spanish man smiled brightly at his Italian cousin.

The said Italian cousin snorted and simply looked out the car window, disregarding the cheery beam. "Like I wanted to come along, bastard…"

"Lovi~! Come on! It'll be like an adventure! Moving to a new place, seeing new people, getting into a new school…it's exciting!" Antonio grinned as he continued driving, oblivious to his cousin's miserable mood.

Lovino scoffed; glare still fixed out the window.

"Hey look, _mi hermano_! There's your school over there! It looks nice!"

Lovino sat up from his slouching position in the car seat. He turned his head on a slight angle and noticed a group of people pointing at the car, staring and whispering. The Italian was silent at that, and just as the car drove past and out of sight, he rudely flipped off at some of the male students in the soccer field. He went back into his slouching position, only a _little _satisfied at seeing the dumbfounded face of one of them.

"It's gonna suck; my old school was better than that shithole…"

"You don't know that, Lovi~!" Antonio still had that smile present on his face. "Look! There's where our new home is going to be!"

Lovino's amber eyes peered up at a finely crafted beige building with a black roof that complimented its walls. It was standing tall and proud with statues of angels and gargoyles guarding on its pews. Lovino had to admit – the exterior looked rather nice and articulate.

As he and Antonio took out the luggage, they made their way inside to the counter where there stood a woman with short and wavy blonde hair that was held back with a green ribbon headband. She had a cat-like smile on her face and her green eyes were soft and friendly. "Hello there! What can I help you two with?" she asked in a welcoming voice.

"_Hola_!" greeted Antonio. "Lovi here and I are moving into our new apartment – we were accepted by Mr Kirkland."

"Oh! So, _you're_ who Arthur was referring to!" the woman smiled. "I'm Emma, I just run the counter. Mr Kirkland is the landlord and the one with all the spare keys."

"Nice to meet you, Emma. I am Antonio Fernandez Carriedo and this is _mi tomate_, Lovi~!" he wrapped an arm around his cousin's shoulders, to which the Italian bristled and flushed angrily.

"I am _not_ a tomato!" Lovino hissed through grit teeth. This warranted a giggle from Emma, which caused Lovino to turn redder if possible. He stayed quiet and rubbed sheepishly at the side of his head. "And…I-I'm Lovino…Lovino Vargas…it's nice to meet you, _bella_…"

Emma gave him an encouraging smile, "It's nice to meet you, too, Lovino. Let's see now…whose name is the apartment signed under?"

"That would be me," Antonio grinned, making the Italian believe that he would flash and sparkle with rainbows and unicorns around him at any moment.

"Okay then, Carriedo…Carriedo…here it is! You're in apartment 32 on the second floor. Here are your keys, hope you have a nice stay here! If you have any problems, contact me, Mr Kirkland, Mr Wang or Mr Karpusi."

"Who, who and who?" Lovino asked, confused by the names.

Emma laughed, "Sorry! I forgot to tell you about the others who work here. Mr Kirkland is the landlord, you already know that. Mr Wang is a resident here in the building. He's one of Mr Kirkland's oldest friends and knows _everything_ about the city. Mr Karpusi is the cleaner of the building and also the gardener out back – he knows a lot of things, too! Just talk to me or them if you have any problems, okay?"

Lovino nodded, "_Grazie_."

Emma smiled, "No problem!"

"Let's go, Lovi~!" Antonio said, yanking the Italian along with him. "On to our new apartment!"

Lovino wanted to desperately hit his older cousin right there, right now, but restrained himself from looking like a violent delinquent in front of a beautiful and nice woman. Instead, he snarled and cursed under his breath, causing another fit of giggles and a wave from Emma, which in turn, caused Lovino to go redder and grow more embarrassed than before. However, once they were out of sight, Lovino swung at his cousin.

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you, you bastard?!" he screamed. "You're so fucking embarrassing!"

"Eh? What are you talking about, Lovi~?" his Spanish cousin simply ducked as they approached their new apartment. "What's wrong?"

"You're so damn impossible!"

"Whoa, da ze! New neighbours?"

The new voice had made Lovino almost jump out of his skin. He whipped around in time to see a Korean boy with short, black-brown hair and a weird flyaway curl that stuck out from the right side of his head.

"Wow! He's got a curl like yours, Lovi~!" exclaimed an excited Antonio. He reached forward to touch it, but the Korean boy suddenly shot his arm out, grabbed Antonio's wrist, and began twisting it. "_Ay_! _Ay_! _Ay_!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you bastard?!" demanded Lovino, though he was scared senseless from this stranger.

"Eh? Sorry, da ze!" the boy said apologetically as he let go of Antonio's wrist. "Bad habit…I don't like people touching my curl…it's…pretty personal …"

"Just like Lovi~!" piped up Antonio who was still smiling despite the whole ordeal. "I think you and Lovi would make good friends!"

This seemed to get the Korean boy in high spirits. He was beaming, practically glowing, and began shaking Antonio's hand. "That would be awesome, da ze! It's great making new friends!"

"Who the hell are you anyway, you crazy bastard?" snapped Lovino, not liking the idea of making friends with this boy. He seemed too hyper and happy for his liking. Plus, who the hell ends their sentences with something like _'da ze'_?

This seemed to somewhat take back the Korean boy, but nonetheless, he resumed the smile on his face as he offered his hand to Lovino. "I'm Yong Soo, da ze!" he said. "I live with my siblings here in the Grimm! It's nice to meet you!"

"…Lovino…" the Italian snorted and looked away from the hand, ignoring it. Yong Soo's smile faltered and he was tempted to say something rude, but remembered that his _hyeong_ had said _"manners are important in making a good impression, aru"_, so he just plastered the smile back onto his face.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Yong Soo; I'm Antonio," the Spanish man grinned, causing the Korean to regain his cheer – at least _someone_ seemed happy for him to be there. "How long have you stayed here in this building with your siblings?"

Yong Soo's face scrunched up into a thinking expression as he scratched his head. "Um…I came here with my younger sister and older brother about five months ago…"

"So, you're still adjusting here then?" questioned Antonio, genuinely curious.

Yong Soo shrugged, "I don't think so; it's not hard to adjust here – it's quite a nice place, da ze! But if you need help, you can talk to me or _hyeong_! We're here to help, da ze! I'm in the first room just around the corner!"

"How convenient!" Antonio nudged Lovino. "You'll be seeing a lot of each other then!"

The Italian certainly hoped not.

"It was nice meeting the both of you! See you later, da ze!" Yong Soo gave a quick bow to the two of them and dashed off around the corner. Once he was out of sight, the pair continued along the way and eventually reached their destination.

"Look Lovi~! Our new home! Room 32!" the Spaniard grinned as he opened the oaken door with the golden numbers on it. Once the door opened, Antonio beamed, "It looks nice! Doesn't it?"

Lovino entered the room and had to admit himself; it didn't look like such a bad place. The rooms were warm beige and the floors consisted of clean, oaken tiles. There was already a black leather couch and a white kitchen with black and white checked tiles as well as a working bench. There were also two more rooms.

The Italian lugged his luggage along as he entered one room that had red walls and a carpeted floor. The bed looked soft and inviting. Lovino opened the room inside his own and saw that it led to a bathroom with black tiles and pale blue walls. The tub was large and the shower was next to a door which led to the toilet.

He exited his bathroom, dropped his luggage and jumped onto the bed. Lovino exhaled as he snuggled back on the cream pillows and black sheets.

Antonio suddenly came inside and grinned, "This looks like a nice room! Mine's like yours, only it's got green walls!"

"Get lost, tomato bastard," grumbled Lovino, annoyed that his time of comforting sleep was ruined. "Get out of my room!"

Antonio pouted, "Aww come on, Lovi~! Don't you wanna see my room, too?"

"Hell no."

The Spaniard sighed and gave a shrug, "At least unpack your things, Lovi. I'll unpack mine in my own room and I'll be going to sleep, too. It's getting late after all."

Lovino peered at his watch and it read quite clearly _'9:30'_. He grunted as he reluctantly got off his bed and started unpacking, pulling out clothes, photos and other various junk.

There was suddenly a small clatter, which made the Italian swivel his head around. Lovino peered down at what caused the noise and picked up the object.

A storybook?

Lovino began flicking through the pages of the thick book and was met by articulately drawn pictures done with great care as well as a bunch of words crafted underneath. The Italian was staring at pictures of fairies, trolls, beautiful girls, princes…many kinds of creatures and people were in that book.

Looking up, Lovino then saw that his window was actually linked to the fire escape. He carefully made his way and glanced out the window, seeing what looked to be a garden with many variations of flowers growing there. However, due to the time of day (or night), Lovino couldn't properly see what sort of flowers were growing out there.

The Italian finally decided to go wash up and then lay his head down into the pillows.

It didn't seem so bad anymore.

* * *

_**A/N:** Basically, after some random bump-in's, Lovino meets Matthew his other neighbour in the garden, but bonds better with him than Yong Soo. Then freaky stuff happens in Grimm to do with the power, and they meet Yong Soo in Heracles Karpusi the gardener's shed and they decide to go get the power back on in the generator room. The power outage however has to do with a storm, and they were able to place the emergency power back on, but upon going back to Mr Karpusi's shed, a bolt of lightning hits and screws up the power. And well...let's just say that the building isn't exactly that new, and someone didn't apply oil to the doorknob..._

* * *

"W-what the hell's going on?" demanded Lovino, amber eyes widening.

"I don't know," whispered Matthew. "But this isn't good…"

There was the sound of the doorknob being jiggled and Yong Soo shook his head, "No good…the door's not opening up – we're locked in."

"Mr Karpusi," Matthew timidly went up to the sleeping Greek man who was curled up in some sheets on the couch with a cat purring contentedly in his arms. "Mr Karpusi? Um, sir…" the Canadian boy was cut off when lightning flashed menacingly outside during the rainy weather, followed by a great boom of thunder.

Lovino gave a loud (high-pitched) shriek and grabbed onto the closest thing he could get his hands on…which happened to be Yong Soo.

The Korean grew flustered at first from the Italian's sudden change of character, but simply held him back, whispering soothingly, "Don't worry …it's just a storm…nothing but rain, electricity and loud noises…"

"You may think that…"

The boys jumped when they saw that Heracles was now awake and sitting up on his couch, stroking his cat fondly. He gestured to the stools nearby, to which the boys took and sat (except for Yong Soo who preferred the floor). The Greek man then lit a lantern with a set of matches and prepared a kettle for something warm on that cold night.

"Er…what did you mean, Mr Karpusi?" asked Matthew, hugging Kumajirou tightly to his chest.

"Days like this…when lightning flashes and thunder roars…they must be fighting again…"

"Fighting? Who?" inquired Yong Soo, leaning eagerly forward; he loved a good action story.

"Zeus and his father Cronos, of course," responded Heracles, now filling up four cups with hot water. He gestured to a tin of cocoa, a box of tea packets, another tin that was full of sugar and a bottle of fresh milk. The three boys came forward and filled what they wanted and placed themselves back on their spots. The Greek man rooted himself back onto the couch, more cats coming in and taking refuge in his lap, under the sheets and with the boys around.

"Who the hell are Zeus and Cronos?" questioned Lovino as he blew the top of his cocoa. Despite the bluntness of his question, Heracles was unfazed.

"Zeus is the king of Mount Olympus, which resides in the heavens…" explained Heracles as he sipped his warm milk. "Cronos was his father…the previous king…"

"This is like a story, da ze!" exclaimed Yong Soo, who was eagerly wriggling in his spot. "_Hyeong_ used to say stories like this when I was younger…it feels so long! I'm excited actually, da ze!"

"You've gotta be kidding me," Lovino groaned, rolling his eyes. "_Stories_?"

"Why not? It'll pass the time," said Yong Soo defensively.

"He's right, you know…" Matthew said, tone still soft. "By the looks of this storm, I don't think we'll be able to leave anytime soon or at least until someone opens the door from the outside…"

"You're all fucked up in the head! Really!" snapped Lovino. "I'm too old for your damn fairy tales!"

At this, Heracles looked at the Italian, his teal eyes serious and blazing with a resolute fire. This scared the said Italian so greatly, that he almost fell off of his stool. Yong Soo and Matthew looked uneasy yet awed at the sudden change of the Greek man's personality.

"How do you know that it's not true?"

The question caught everyone off guard, but nobody dared to say anything against him. They were fearful that he may actually be serious at what he was saying and what he might do if they oppose.

Matthew chose to eventually break the tension, "So…um…Mr Karpusi – what happened between Zeus and Cronos?"

"Yeah! Tell us the story, da ze!" agreed Yong Soo.

Heracles' eyes immediately died down and he went back to his carefree and relaxed demeanour again. He cleared his throat and sipped some more tea as he began his story, "Yes…Zeus and Cronos…I shall begin all stories like how my mother had begun it…"

"Which is…?"

* * *

_**A/N: **Heracles then tells the story of Zeus and Cronos, however I was inspired also by someone else's story that adapted Hetalia characters into myths, so I used Hetalia characters there. ^_^'  
[Winter = Cronos, Asia = Rea, Rome = Zeus, Ancient Greece = Hera, Ancient Egypt = Hestia, Britannia = Demeter, China = Poseidon, Germania = Hades]_

* * *

O__**Once upon a time…**__O

O_** [**Music Corner:** **Mt Battle**, Pokémon Colosseum] **_O

Before, on Mount Olympus, there reigned the gods of the legend. The king of the gods, Winter, was the father of all of them and had married his sister, Asia, who was the goddess of the earth. Winter had become the king of the gods by killing Pangaea, the First One.

The dying Pangaea had put forth a prophecy, "You may have killed me and stolen my throne, but know this – one of your own sons will dethrone you like you did to me – for crime begets crime…!"

Winter was disturbed upon the words and became very careful after this. One by one, he ingested his children as they were born: first, his three daughters – Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Britannia; then finally his two sons – China and Germania.

Asia was outraged by this and was determined that he would not eat her next child, who she felt for certain was a boy.

When the time came, she came down the slope of Mount Olympus into a dark place and had her child. Indeed, it was a son, and she named him Rome. She hung a golden cradle from the branches of an olive tree, put him to sleep there and went back to the top of the mountain. There, she grabbed a rock, wrapped it in clothing and held it to her bosom, singing a soft lullaby. Winter saw her, snatched the bundle and swallowed it, clothes and all.

Once this was over, Asia crept down the mountainside to the golden cradle and took her son down into the fields. She gave him to a shepherd to raise as his own, promising that the shepherd's sheep would never be eaten by wolves or die from disease.

Here, Rome grew to be a handsome, young boy, and Winter his father, knew nothing about him. However, there came a time that Asia became lonely and yearned for her youngest son's presence. She brought him back to the court of the gods, introducing him to Germania as the new cupbearer. This pleased Winter as the boy was lovely looking.

One night, Asia and Rome made a special drink that was mixed with mustard and salt into the nectar. The next morning, after drinking, Winter vomited up first a stone, then the daughters Greece, Egypt and Britannia, then finally the two sons Germania and China. Since they were gods, they were still undigested, and still alive. They thanked Rome and immediately chose him to be their leader.

Soon, a mighty battle erupted.

Winter was joined by the Titans, his half-brothers – huge, twisted creatures of the dark that were taller than trees, whom he kept pent up in the mountains until they were needed.

They attacked the young gods furiously, but Rome also had allies.

He went to darker caverns – caves that were under caves that were under caves, deep in the mountainside – formed by the first bubbles of the cooling earth. Here, Winter had kept other monsters – the one-eyed Cyclops and the Hundred-handed Ones.

There was a great rushing and tumult in the skies. The people on earth would hear the sound of roaring thunder and saw the mountains shatter. The earth itself quaked and even waves rolled as the gods fought. Winter was crafty and attacked with fierce precision, driving the young gods before him.

But Rome also had a trap.

Halfway up the slope of Mount Olympus, he whistled for his cousins, the Hundred-handed Ones who had been lying in ambush. They took up huge boulders and hurled them downhill at the Titans. The Titans thought the mountain itself was falling onto them. They broke ranks and fled.

Now, the young gods climbed Mount Olympus and took over the great kingdom with Rome as the new king.

Nobody knew what happened to Winter and his Titans, but sometimes, mountains still exploded in fire, earth itself quaked and even the sky would roar and flash with such ferocity…

It made everyone think…

* * *

Heracles nodded, "And that's what happened..."

"Wow..." Yong Soo's brown eyes were sparkling. "That's so cool, da ze!"

"So...he might not even be dead?" Lovino couldn't help but ask. To which, Matthew and Yong Soo fixated their attention onto him; looking a bit surprised that the Italian was taking interest with tales when he initially scorned them before.

The Greek gardener didn't seem to mind however; instead, he nodded and gently picked up one of his cats, "Yes...there are those...who believe that..."

"_Cazzo_..." murmured Lovino as he glanced at the window outside. However, much to his shock, the rain was much softer now, and the sky wasn't as miserably looking as before. "What the hell?!"

"Oh! The storm subsided," exclaimed Matthew; his violet eyes widening behind his glasses.

"Still raining, though," piped up Yong Soo.

"They say that the rain...is tears..." Heracles yawned before fondly scratching at the cat's ears. The feline gave a silky purr as it rubbed on him.

* * *

_And well, that's about it so far - I'll most likely post any odd tid-bits and scattered pieces around when I found them, so it _might _be a daily occurrence or just to amuse people who are fed up with waiting for me. ^_^'_

**_Once Upon a Time_**_ was going to have chapters that spoke of a problem that our protagonists were going to face (namely Lovino), and after being told a story/fairytale/fable/myth, the problem gets solved, or they know what to do next. However, the biggest theme was going to be "growing up" because I notice that most children don't mind fairytales, but are recently going away from it in favour of other crap such as being famous (we can't all have that spotlight - and personally, I think it's better to have a job that sustains your pay such as a nurse or teacher for the rest of your life or until your retire, rather than something that blows over eventually like all of these child-stars and a majority of teen actors nowadays). Teenagers aren't as interested in stories such as mythology anymore unless they either study it, are avid readers, or in their later teens. _

_Anyway, enough of my rambling; thoughts and opinions if you want - this is just to keep people entertained and hear suggestions, really. XD otherwise, have a pleasant day! :DDD  
_

_Sincerely,  
HetaWriter/HetaReader_


	2. Once Upon a Time: Princess & the Cowherd

_HetaWriter/HetaReader with another random piece, but it's following from the whole **Once Upon a Time **bit from the previous chapter. _

_However, this is a more future chapter that happens after a certain segment that involves a thief who broke into the place and at first, Lovino, Matthew and Yong Soo suspected it was Ivan the creepy Russian guy who recently moved in. However, it turned out that Ivan was a toymaker and was simply observing children because he wanted to know what they loved so he could make toys that they'd love to play with. And when they finally found the _real _thief, the real thief was actually threatening Emma [Belgium] with a butcher's knife, and Lovino ends up getting stabbed and brought to hospital, which of course upsets Antonio, to which Lien then comforts him as Yong Soo and Matthew come along to the hospital. _

_Then basically, Antonio starts falling in love with Lien when he sees her around the Grimm complex, and there was this one incident where she takes her class to an excursion at the zoo, and he helps her look after the kids - especially because two of them named Kiku and Alfred run off to see the lions._**  
**

_Also, it kinda fulfilled my Tomato Rice/SpaViet need. ^_^'_

_Piece of info about piece:_

**_Piece Title:_**_ Once Upon a Time  
**Chapter No.: **Somewhere in the middle - maybe 11?  
**Rating:** K+ (no swearing, but there _is_ a kiss involved)  
__**Warning: **Fluff, human AU, crack pairing  
**Pairing/s: **Tomato Rice [SpaViet]  
**Chapter Summary: **Well, Antonio basically has fallen in love with Lien who's Yong Soo's older sister, and wants to tell her how he feels since it appears that Arthur the landlord is into her, too. When he comes over to visit Lien, he chokes up and becomes nervous, so she then offers him some green tea to calm down...  
**Inspiration/s: **Just mushy romantic stuff in general. Now that I look at it, I feel kinda embarrassed because it seems _really _mushy and I had no idea how to properly write a romantic scene back then, but hey - it's for your amusement and entertainment._

* * *

[_**Music Corner:**_ **Kiss the Rain** by _Yiruma_, From the Yellow Room]

"Here."

Antonio glanced up to see the Vietnamese woman was offering him a cup of slightly murky green liquid. There were billows of white steam slowly creeping from the top. He gave her a quizzical look, "What is it?"

"Green tea. Drink it; it soothes the soul and calms the mind."

The Spanish man gratefully took the cup and blew the top, making the small wisps of white sway gently away. He carefully took a sip and a bitter taste was spread out over his tongue. Nonetheless, he felt much better after taking a few sips from the china cup. He gave a content sigh as his shoulders relaxed. Lien smiled a little watching him calm down before questioning as to what was the matter with him. "There is obviously something on your mind. Would you like to tell me what it is?"

Antonio stopped from taking another sip of the calming brew. He stared into the cup before giving her a response, "I have a problem, _mi hermosa_…and I really don't know what to do about it…"

Lien chose to take place beside him, cautious when she noticed his muscles starting to tense as she shuffled a little closer. However, she was completely unaware that the Spaniard was tensing up only because she was just _that _close to him. She leaned a little and gazed at his face. "Would you like to talk about it?" she asked him gently.

Antonio didn't dare look on his right; if he did, he'd loose his nerve. And after so much practice with his two best friends, as well. He cleared his throat and took another sip of the green tea he was handed. After the sip, he gave a loud exhale, emerald orbs locked into the green brew. "It's…it's a relationship problem…" he said, cursing the stutter he suddenly acquired whenever she was concerned.

Lien was surprised at him stumbling, too; it seemed too out of character in her opinion. He was always so confident, bouncy and smiling; never shy, unsure and this vulnerable. This made her want to help him all the more – this was just too unlike him. "And what sort of a relationship problem is this?" she questioned.

The Spanish man licked his lips, trying to keep his thoughts in line. Unbeknownst to the Vietnamese woman, inside of him was a raging battle – part of him was screaming, tearing out hair, urging him to proclaim his love towards the woman just so close yet so far to him. The other part, on the other hand, was crying; telling him that it wasn't a good time and that she couldn't possibly reciprocate his love towards her – that there was no point. He didn't know he was spacing out until Lien shook his shoulder.

"Antonio, are you alright?" she asked, concern gracing her features.

Antonio felt like slapping himself when he found himself gazing right into Lien's golden eyes. His breath hitched into his throat as he continued staring at them; they were bright and beautiful – reminding him of the golden sun of his home country, especially with their lovely colour. He tensed all the more when Lien softly squeezed his shoulder.

"Breathe."

He swallowed the lump in his throat and inhaled deeply. He exhaled and found himself feeling much better.

Lien backed away; glad that her friend had relaxed again, however, she wasn't sure if she should press him further, "You don't have to tell me."

He cleared his throat, signalling that he wanted to continue and so, began to answer her question. Antonio though was trying to think of the proper way of starting. After contemplating, he was finally able to speak.

"Well, _mi hermosa_…there's this girl…no, a woman…" he began, searching for a good way of telling her his problem and at the same time, his true feelings towards her.

"Okay, a woman…" Lien said slowly, arching her eyebrow. She gave him a look that read no expression as he continued speaking.

"_Si_, a woman. This woman, she's…she's very special to me."

"Special?"

"_S-si_…she is someone that I could never forget. and I want to be with always. I want her to look at me and only me and to know that I'm…that I'm hers."

Lien then nodded, face full of understanding, "Ah, I see; so you're in love with her."

Antonio nodded, "_Si_, very much so." He brought the cup close to his lips again, but couldn't help the trembling of his hands; so far, so good.

"Would you like to confess to her, then?"

"_Si_. I want to tell her how I feel before it's too late."

"Can I ask, how long have you loved her for?"

Antonio paused and scratched his head. He wondered himself how long he had loved the Vietnamese woman for. After some thinking, he finally came to a conclusion – he loved her since that time when they were both in the hospital after the incident. He was so distressed and upset and there she was – an angel to comfort him and offered him her shoulder to cry on.

Ever since then, he began to wonder about her every day. He found himself longing for her in his apartment while Lovino was cursing at him to stop being so spacey. He became incredibly interested in things that she loved; tea, poetry, even fishing. He wanted to visit her and see how she was doing; to be there just in case something went wrong in her life.

He even began having dreams about her – they were both standing at the altar of a church, both wearing white; they were both living in a lovely, little cottage, sitting on the patio and watching the sunset; they were hugging and kissing their beautiful child who was on their way to their first day of school; they were even sitting in a gorgeous garden of carnations and red lotus, both weary from age, yet still in love.

Back to Lien's question, Antonio then realized that the incident had happened several months ago since the alert of the criminal had happened only a week after he and Lovino settled in. Only about seven months? He felt like he loved her forever. He responded to her question.

"Seven months?" Lien sat in a thinking position, which Antonio couldn't help but giggle; she looked so cute whenever she was in that posture – a determined pout and the exaggerated cross-legged stance. She shrugged, "At least you're smiling again; that's not a bad length of time. How do you stand with this girl?"

Antonio stopped laughing and began to think again, however, a small smile was settled onto his face, which relieved the Vietnamese woman – him being so worried was just…not right.

He fumbled with his cup, which was now half empty. "Well, we're good friends despite meeting each other not _too_ long ago; we talk a lot, hang out…tell problems and secrets to each other."

"That's a good start," Lien said, nodding. "Why not just tell her then? Better to get it out of your chest than to leave it all bottled up. She has the right to know."

"Ah, you have a point, _mi hermosa_, but…that's easier said than done," responded Antonio sadly. "You see, I always choke whenever I get _so_ close to telling her and whenever I get the confidence, something always interrupts. Plus, I have the feeling that she would never love me as much as I love her."

Lien scowled, "None of that pessimism. What makes you think that?"

"I…I just know it," Antonio said, now quite forlorn. "She hangs out a lot with this man I…am not so fond of." He was about to call Arthur something far worse than that, but remembering that Lien didn't approve of swearing, quickly settled for something else. "Though this man is someone I really don't like, I admit; I think she would be better off with him than with me."

Lien's scowl only furrowed deeper; she didn't like how the Spanish man was sounding right now – it's as if all of his confidence was shattered, leaving a shell of doubt. She shook her head, "That's a stupid thing to say – what makes you say that?"

"He's…so different from me! He loves all of the things that she loves; he knows what to say whenever she's so upset, they are seen together a lot of the time, they've known each other for far longer, and he's just…he's a gentleman!"

Lien's eyes widened slightly at the last comment.

_Gentleman_?

Antonio must be ranting about Arthur. After all, who else did she know that would be referred to as that? Seeing that the Spanish man was still in the middle of his rant, she placed a hand on his shoulder again, squeezed it, and at once he deflated like a balloon releasing air.

The Vietnamese woman couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction, but cleared her throat to maintain her seriousness in listening to his situation. "They could be just friends. That shouldn't be stopping you from trying; you're a very good man, Antonio. Doesn't this woman see you highly, too? Aren't you close?"

Antonio felt his cheeks flush a little and he couldn't help his smile from growing a little wider. She did have a point, too – they were really good friends; they spent a lot of time together; they practically saw each other every day, too. Plus, from how she laughs and smiles around him, it was safe to say that she liked being around him.

"_Si_,_ mi amiga_. We are very close, but…I want to tell her how I feel. I'm just so scared that it could either ruin our friendship, or my heart not being able to take it if I get rejected."

Lien contemplated his words and gave a nod when he was done with his response. "It's better to have loved and never gained than to have never loved at all," she said simply, giving him a reassuring smile which caused flutters to erupt in his stomach; she was usually so serious looking. "Tell her how you feel; who knows? She might like you, too."

"If only things were that simple, _mi hermosa_," Antonio sighed again. "Even if I did tell her how I felt and she did feel the same way, there are still a lot of obstacles in our path."

"Such as?"

"Well, for one thing; there are other men who are interested in her: I get so jealous whenever I see her spending time with other men. And also, well…there's her family, too."

"Why? Does her family not like you?"

"Well…" Antonio scratched his head. "Her grandfather doesn't like me at all."

Lien frowned; this family sounded so familiar – it sounded just like…

She shook her head as she encouraged him to keep speaking, "I'm sure it's not that bad…"

"He doesn't like me at all!" wailed Antonio, now becoming emotional. "He calls me a foreigner and a bad influence on _mi amor _and insisted that I was bad! He doesn't want me to be around her and to just go away. He says that I will only hurt her, but I won't! I could never do such a thing! Not to her! Never to her!"

"An obstacle such as family shouldn't get in your way of revealing your feelings to this girl. Though family is important, they shouldn't stop the both of you if what you feel is strong and true," Lien answered, voice brimming with confidence, however, Antonio was stunned to hear that it was slightly shaky. He wondered why that was.

"_Mi amor_…" the Spanish man mumbled, looking at his tea.

"Antonio," continued Lien. The said man looked at her as she spoke, "_True_ love overcomes obstacles. Real love will always find a way around anything, no matter how despairing or hopeless the situation is. Such a love that two people have would be so inseparable, that anything could be overcome and it would last until death."

Seeing the doubt in Antonio's face, Lien ran a hand through her black locks, trying to find a way to convince him that he shouldn't give up. Ideas played like a film until she finally found an idea that could help him. She then took a cushion, fluffed it up and laid it near one of the couch's arms.

"What are you doing, _mi hermosa_?" Antonio questioned, confused. She pointed at it and made a motion with her hand. "Um…"

"Lie back; let me tell you a story."

Antonio was incredibly surprised by this, but obeyed without hesitation. He carefully lay on his back and rested his head on the soft cushion. Glancing over his body, he saw Lien was smiling as she leaned back on the couch, still sitting cross-legged, golden eyes warming up the chilly and rainy night, melting him like the sun. He gave a smile back as he inquired, "So, what's this story you are about to tell me, _mi hermosa_?"

Lien smiled at how eager he was – just like an eager little child. "It's a story that brother Yao had told me when we were younger. It's sweet…but a little sad."

The Spanish man's smile faltered and he swallowed; he didn't like hearing sad stories. That was especially evident when Heracles had told the story of Orpheus in the Underworld; honestly, the Spaniard was always rather sensitive. Antonio had been so distraught by the story that he was bawling his eyes out, much to everyone's shock. Lovino was so angry and embarrassed that Antonio was carrying on in such a manner over a story that the Italian slept over at a friend's.

Seeing his saddened expression, Lien laughed, "Don't worry; it's not as tragic as the Orpheus story that Heracles spoke about. I promise."

"Good," Antonio sighed, resting the cup down on the table then placing his hands behind the cushion. "I don't think I can handle another sad story; not everything is a tragedy."

"That's true, too," agreed Lien. "Now, shall I begin?"

"Oh, _si_!" Antonio said excitedly, wriggling in his spot a little. "Please! I would like to hear it!"

Lien laughed at how enthusiastically he was acting and gently shushed him. "Now, the story I will tell you is called the _"Princess and the Cowherd"_."

"A princess and a cowherd?" Antonio smiled. "That already sounds romantic, _mi amor_." He hadn't realized that he had just called Lien that.

The Vietnamese woman however did, but she shrugged it off; he said it to a lot of people before. Why would this be any different? Nonetheless, that single thought of him referring to other women with that term made her insides churn over unpleasantly. She shook her head as she cleared her throat. "Now, let me start as all other stories start off…"

Antonio gave a cheeky grin, "Once upon a time?"

Lien chuckled with a nod, "Yes…there are many versions of this story, but this is the one I know. Now…"

__**Once upon a time…**__

__**_[_**Music Corner:**_ **Shuo Ai Wo** by _Liang Yi Zhen_, Mars]**_

Long ago, in the ancient times, there was the realm of the gods known as the Celestial Plain.

At the lower parts, there lived an extremely poor but kind and sincere star. He would work hard in the fields, minding the cattle of the other villagers. This young star's name was Spain, but the other beings of the Celestial Plain would refer to him as the Cowherd.

Now, nearby the village was the heavenly palace, where the nobles would live. There was a celestial princess, who had become tired of her secluded life at her sanctuary. She wanted to go amongst the other beings of the Celestial Plain. The Princess' name was Vietnam.

Her desire in going out of the palace and onto the commoner parts of the Celestial Plain was seen as a rather alarming action by others in the palace. Her father, the Jade Emperor, in particular, didn't approve at all.

"My daughter, it is far too dangerous to go out there," the Jade Emperor said sharply when she requested to go out one day to the village. "You are a princess, why would you even want to go there? Plus, you have to weave the beautiful clouds for heaven."

Vietnam was known for her wonderful weaving skills that no-one else could match. She was the seamstress for the nobles of the Celestial Plain and her skills were very renowned. Though Vietnam loved to weave and create, she was as determined as ever to go out and pursue what she deemed as her own happiness. She snuck out of the palace and eventually made it to the village.

By chance, Spain was also out, watching the cows. "Are you alright there?" he questioned when he saw her resting on a rock nearby. He couldn't help but smile; she was a beautiful woman.

"I'm fine," Vietnam responded, feeling her face heat up slightly when she saw the handsome being before her.

The two talked and continued spending time with each other. Unsurprisingly, they fell in love. Eventually, Spain and Vietnam got married and they settled in Spain's humble home. They were both very happy and spent every minute of the day together; however, they both knew that they had work to do.

So, while Spain worked hard in the fields with his farm, Vietnam weaved at home to help support the two of them. The commoners of the Celestial Plain began to hear of her and they admired her marvellous weaving skills. Vietnam even offered to teach some of them her techniques. She was known amongst them as _"Weaving Girl."_

Spain and Vietnam lived peacefully and happily until the girl's celestial family realized that the young princess was missing and, after hearing of the Weaving Girl of the village, traced her back to Spain's house.

Furious, the Jade Emperor banished Spain to the other side of the Celestial Plain, and then he summoned a river to flow across the sky, known as the Heavenly River.

Both of the young lovers were in despair.

Vietnam hurried over to the Heavenly River and she tried this way and that, but she could not find a way to get across. She fell to her knees and cried bitter tears.

However, all the magpies of the world had seen what had happened. They were deeply touched by the story of the two lovers and took pity on her. They came to her rescue by spreading their wings to make a bridge across the Heavenly River.

Seeing this, Vietnam ran lightly over their wings and jumped into the arms of the waiting Spain. Both cried out in joy as they held each other close, treasuring their brief reunion. The two lovers thanked the kind magpies for making the bridge. The magpies promised to be there on the same day each year to make a bridge for the two.

And ever since then, on the seventh day of the seventh month, that is how the two lovers have met for one day each year across what we now know today as the Milky Way. Also, if it happened to rain on that special day, it is said that they are the tears of joy of Vietnam, rejoicing over being able to be with her lovely Spain for even just one day.

__**The End**__

_**[_**Music Corner:**_ **Two People Gazing At Each Other** by _Masami Ueda_, Okami]**_

Lien sighed as she concluded the story, the great sense of nostalgia still gently settling in the air around her. She looked at her companion and was startled to see that his forest green eyes were rather teary.

This worried her a lot.

"Antonio, what's wrong?" she asked quietly.

"B-but…that's so sad!" Antonio cried, pouting. "Only one day each _year_? _Ay Dios mio_, I don't think I would be able to take that!"

Lien shook her head, "You're missing the point, Antonio." Seeing him shuffle slightly in his spot, she continued. "The point was that although the two lovers were separated, their love for each other was strong, that even the Jade Emperor of Heaven himself couldn't really stop it."

Antonio ran a hand through his mocha-coloured curls. "_Si_…I see now. So even if it seemed all hopeless, things worked out in the end…sorta…"

"There you go!" Lien smiled as she offered him a tissue. As he wiped his eyes, she spoke again, "Obstacles shouldn't deter your feelings in any way. Plus, no matter how hopeless it seems, if the love is there and it's strong, anything in its way will be broken by it."

The Spanish man sat up from his spot and sat cross-legged himself. He shuffled closer to Lien. "_Si_. I get it. _Muchos gracias_, Lien. Really, thank you."

Lien shook her head, "It's no problem. Now, go and tell this girl how you feel! I'm sure, she'd feel the same way; you're a good person."

Antonio froze; did she know how he felt about her? He wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to let the chance slip away again. He exhaled again and finally spoke, "_Si_…I _will_ tell her how I feel."

"That's the spirit!"

"Lien…"

The Vietnamese woman stopped to see the Spanish man looked both extremely nervous and serious. He was gripping at his knees and he swallowed a lump in his throat, his gaze fixed upon her. She was alarmed at how his mood suddenly changed, but she grew even more stunned with the next thing he spoke.

"Lien, I've been meaning to tell you for such a long time now, but I've always been interrupted or lost the courage to tell you. But, since it's just us here, nothing's going to hold me back. Lien Nguyen, _te amo_."

Though Antonio didn't speak the last part in English, Lien knew all too well what the last sentence meant. Her eyes widened when he ran his tongue over his lips, looking even more nervous than when he started talking.

"I love you."

Those three words that flowed from Antonio's mouth made the Vietnamese woman freeze and her mind was still trying to process what had just happened. Meanwhile, Antonio himself was worried by the lack of response from her and so, before he knew it, began babbling in a mixture of Spanish and English.

"_L-lo siento_! I-it's just…_estoy totalmente enamorado de ti_. I don't want to lose you – _quiero estar contigo para siempre_! _Sueño contigo todos los dias_ and it drives me crazy because I want to be with you, but I-I'm just so scared!"

Lien's mind was still in shock from Antonio's confession. After her mind was finally able to process it, she felt her cheeks grow hot and something inside of her bloomed like a red lotus flower.

Antonio loved her.

Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, the man who many women would have killed to have, loved _her_, the simple, too serious and uninteresting Lien Nguyen.

She wasn't sure if this was a dream or not, but she hoped that it wasn't; otherwise, her feelings would be in vain. Noticing that he was blubbering on in Spanish and English, Lien knew that there was one way to find out whether this was a dream and to also shut him up.

"_Me vuelves loco_! Ever since that day in the hospital, you were so kind to me when I was such a pathetic mess! I began to love you and _cada dia te quiero mas_! _Soy feliz de compartir cada instante de mi vida a tu lado _– even if we were just friends and you can't accept my feelings, I would still love that. _Te deseo_, _te adoro_! I-!"

Antonio was abruptly cut off when something grabbed his shoulders and pulled him in. All at once, he felt something warm and soft catch his lips. His jade eyes widened at first when he realized what was going on, but all too soon, he eagerly returned the affectionate gesture, wrapping his arms around Lien's waist, pouring all of his passion and precious emotion into that one kiss.

The pair didn't know how long they were in that position for, but by the time they broke off, one thing was for certain.

"_Mi amor_," Antonio said softly as he gazed at her, eyes practically sparkling. "You…I didn't know you felt the same way towards me."

Lien gave a wry smile back, "I guess Yong Soo and brother Yao were right then; I can mask my real feelings far too well."

"When did you start having feelings for me?"

Lien shut her eyes, the smile still settled on her face as she spoke without hesitation, "Ever since the day that you helped me with the children on the excursion to the zoo…"

Antonio felt a wide beam overcome his face – that was only a few days after he was a wreck at the hospital. All at once, he wrapped his arms around her and placed her head close to his chest. Lien's face reddened instantaneously, but she relaxed and nestled, resting her own hands onto his arm.

"_Mi amor_," Antonio sighed. "This isn't a dream…right?"

"A dream?" Lien asked, blinking up at him. "I certainly hope not."

"Well, if it _is_ a dream, then I don't want anyone to wake me up," declared Antonio. "Not even Lovi can wake me up now!"

Lien giggled, which caused Antonio to redden. He pulled her away a little and tenderly placed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. He gave a sweet smile as he continued gazing into her golden eyes.

"Lien…_tienes los ojos más bonitos del mundo_…"

Said Vietnamese woman's smile broke into a confused look, "What?"

Antonio gave a merry laugh, "I'm sorry! I said: you have the prettiest eyes in the world."

"Oh…" Lien flushed, but she couldn't help the smile on her face. She placed a hand on his face and traced her thumb down his cheek. "You have a beautiful smile…and it makes me really happy."

Antonio couldn't help but squeal over what the woman just said to him. He caught her in another embrace and planted a kiss on her cheek as he exclaimed, "Oh, Lien! _Mi carino_!"

Lien sighed as she returned the (at first) crushing embrace.

"_Em yêu ahn, _Antonio."

The Spanish man stopped and looked down at her, green eyes brimming with curiosity, "Huh?"

Lien laughed at the clueless look on his face, "What else would it mean? I love you."

__**No matter the obstacle, love will always find a way…**__

* * *

[Translation]

(Spanish)

_Estoy totalmente enamorado de ti_ – I'm hopelessly in love with you  
_Quiero estar contigo para siempre _– I want to be with you forever  
_Sueño contigo todos los dias _– I dream about you everyday  
_Me vuelves loco_ – You drive me crazy  
_Cada dia te quiero mas _– My love for you grows more everyday  
_Soy feliz de compartir cada instante de mi vida a tu lado _– I'm happy to share each moment of my life by your side  
_Te deseo, te adoro _– I want you, I adore you

(Vietnamese)  
_Em yêu ahn _– I love you [girl to boy]

_Yes, this was a full chapter, and originally, there was supposed to be some important moral at the end of each of the **Once Upon a Time **chapters because that's the point of most fables and myths. =^w^=_

_Thoughts and opinions if you'd like - have a nice day. :DDD_

_Sincerely,  
HetaWriter/HetaReader_


	3. Once Upon a Time: The Magic Mirror

_More random bits before I get to work on other things. XD it's more **Once Upon a Time **- I'm posting things in order of files I get to, so I'm finishing off showing these before showing other random stuff. =^w^=_

_Anyway, thank you **Ayumi Kudou **for the reviews!_

**_Ayumi Kudou:_**_ Sorry I didn't respond to your other review! D8 but anyway, thank you very much for the compliment! :D EgyViet? Sounds interesting...:)_

_****__Piece Title:__ Once Upon a Time  
**Chapter No.: **Like...a chapter or two forward from **The Princess and the Cowherd **chapter.  
**Rating:** T (swearing because Lovino is involved)__**Warning: **Human AU, crack pairing  
**Pairing/s: **Tomato Rice [SpaViet]  
**Chapter Summary: **In PE, Lovino chokes and fails in doing the rope climbing challenge. To make matters worse, he falls, but feels humiliated when the teacher, Mr Berwald Oxenstierna, catches him in a bridal carry. Antonio originally was supposed to have a date with Lien, but several people interrupt (including the landlord), however poor Lovino feels even worse that he lacked the confidence to climb up the rope.  
**Inspiration/s: **Rope challenge (I didn't have to do it, but I heard some people do, so...XD)  
_

___By the way, throughout the story, Ivan's sister Natalya also befriends Lovino, Matthew and Yong Soo, so that may explain why she's just randomly in there. :)_

* * *

[_**Music Corner:**_ **Improbable** by _Kevin McLeod_, Scene: Comedic]

"Come on, Lovino! You can do it, da ze!"

"Fuck you, kimchi bastard!"

"Lovino, you're almost there! We know you can make it!"

"You too, maple sucker!"

Yong Soo and Matthew were cheering on Lovino, who was clinging onto the rope for dear life. They were all in the middle of PE class and it was the rope climb test. Lovino never knew he was afraid of heights until just now – his legs were crossed over the rope's cord.

He stayed in a tight bundle on his spot, which was a good four and a half meters. He now refused to move in fear of either the flimsy rope snapping, or his sweaty hands making him fumble on the rope's cord and thus, having him fall from the great height. The many faces shouting up at him weren't helping his situation, either. His friends, Yong Soo and Matthew were cheering him on, but others weren't so kind.

"Hurry up, Lovino!" called Alfred, who was now looking quite impatient. "You're _way_ too slow! Ring the damn bell already!"

"S-shut up, burger bastard!" snapped Lovino, tightening his hold on the rope even more.

"Lovino, just climb the stupid rope already!" Allie agreed. "Seriously! All the girls finished, and you're holding the boys up!"

Lovino narrowed his eyes and glared daggers at the American girl; sure he swore, but even if the girl was a complete bitch in his opinion, he never swore at a girl. Alfred, Allie, as well as most of the other members of the class, were now annoyed that the Italian refused to keep climbing.

The Italian's eyes darted away from the crowd of students who gathered around underneath him and they settled onto a girl who walked up to join Yong Soo and Matthew. A girl with dark blonde hair with a large white bow in her hair. She peered up at him with dark blue eyes.

Natalya said nothing as she crossed her arms over her chest, amused at Lovino's attempt to finish their PE task. She felt the corner of her mouth twitch upward, and didn't say a word.

Lovino flushed; he knew that Natalya was amused by his pathetic attempt in the assessment – it wasn't his fault that he was scared of falling from the rope a great distance from the floor and breaking his neck. No, that wasn't his fault at all.

"Lovino! You're almost there, da ze! Just a little more to go! Come on!" Yong Soo encouraged, pumping a fist in the air.

Matthew clapped his hands together as he called out, agreeing with the Korean, "Yeah! Lovino, you can do it!"

Natalya said nothing; she only looked up at the Italian who was staring down at them from his great height. For a moment, she thought that Lovino was going to climb up the rope and actually be able to ring the bell.

For a moment…

The loud, sharp shriek of a whistle silenced everyone from their shouts and caused the crowd to turn around.

Mr. Oxenstierna, the Swedish PE teacher, came in, causing everyone to falter away from his looming figure. He stared up at the rope and saw that Lovino was still clutching onto it as if it were his life support. The man's eyes furrowed down to a scowl, however, nobody could tell what he was really thinking from behind his blank face. Mr. Oxenstierna cleared his throat.

"Come down now, Mr. Vargas," he said in his thick accent. When the students first had him, it was a little hard to make out what he said at first, however, after spending more lessons with the Swedish teacher, his accent became a bit easier to understand and everyone could tell what he was saying eventually.

Lovino frantically shook his head, "Hell no! I am _not_ letting go!"

"Don't be stupid, Lovino," Natalya said coldly, glaring up at the Italian clinging onto the rope. "You can't stay up there forever."

"You want to me to freaking _break_ my neck?!"

"Just let go," Mr. Oxenstierna called out again, coming closer to the rope.

"Hell no!" Lovino's eyes almost popped out from his head.

"Trust me."

Lovino was trembling more than ever. He swallowed the lump that gathered in his throat, but eventually, after giving great thought to what the Swedish man had said, released his hold on the rope. He gave a high-pitched scream as he plummeted down to the ground and expected to hear a crack and have a sharp pain jolt out in his spine.

However, none came.

Instead, he found himself in the arms of his PE teacher. Mr. Oxenstierna had caught him from his fall, and was now easily carrying him in a bridal hold.

Lovino was flushing a brilliant red and flailed immediately, screaming out curses in Italian, causing Mr. Oxenstierna to drop him. The other students were laughing their heads off at what just happened, everyone that is, except for his friends and the teacher himself.

"Sorry…are you okay?"

Lovino's face was even redder, if that was possible. Natalya could see that his eyes were slightly teary by now and the curious curl that stuck out from the right side of his head was curling inward, signalling that he was about to blow up at any moment.

"Haha! Lovino was carried like a girl! How gay!" laughed Alfred in his obnoxiously loud voice.

When the other students followed, Yong Soo snapped at them to shut up. Matthew agreed, but was more unsuccessful due to his quiet voice. Natalya was debating whether or not she should say something in Lovino's defence – after all, _everyone_ had a fear and it wasn't like Lovino wanted Mr. Oxenstierna to catch him at all. However, before she could even say anything, her thoughts were broken.

Lovino's curl uncurled itself to an almost straight strand of hair and for a moment, it seemed that he _did _explode.

"CHIIIIIGGGGGIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

* * *

[_**Music Corner:**_ **Radio Martini** by _Kevin McLeod_, Scene: Comedic]

By the time PE was over, Lovino was now referred to as _"Mr. Oxenstierna's bitch"_ and other names similar among those lines. The Italian was in a really foul mood and his friends could clearly see that. Nevertheless, Yong Soo tried to cheer him up as best as he could. After a while, Matthew, joined the Korean to help reassure Lovino that the whole name-calling, and him being paired up with Mr. Oxenstiema will die down the next day. Natalya didn't say a word during the trip back to the Grimm apartments

Lovino's eye twitched a couple of times, still pissed off, but he was angrier with the fact that he couldn't climb the stupid rope rather than being called Mr. Oxenstiema's_ "bitch"_. Of course, the Italian was angry with that, but the fact that he was cowardly enough not to continue up a little piece of cord just made his blood boil.

But it wasn't his fault, really! He was fine at first, but as he got higher, everything looked a smaller and the shouts and calls around him didn't exactly help him in his situation either.

He wanted to bash his head in – he was such a coward; it wasn't that hard to climb a piece of rope: Yong Soo and Natalya climbed before him and they didn't have any problems at all. Hell, Yong Soo even got the highest record out of the boys so far at forty seconds, which made Alfred rant with rage, causing the Korean to laugh his head off and stick his tongue out at the American.

The four senior students reached Lovino's apartment to both study and just hang out a bit there. When they entered, they saw that Antonio was in the kitchen, humming a happy tune as he was rolling out something into a thin sheet with a rolling pin. He looked up to see his cousin walk in with his friends and waved.

"_Hola_, guys! How are you doing? How was school?" he asked as he continued rolling the sheet out with the rolling pin. The teenagers placed their bags on the couch near the television as Lovino switched the blaring screen on.

"It was absolute _shit_…" snarled Lovino as he flicked through channels. His friends were exchanging glances, giving the Italian a worried look. Antonio was clearly worried, too. He stopped rolling for a moment and wiped his hands on his tomato-printed apron.

"Lovi, _mi tomate_, what's wrong? Why do you say that?" he asked gently.

"Fucking hate that stupid ass rope!" snapped Lovino. Antonio looked at the other three teenagers in question.

"We had an assessment for PE," explained Matthew sheepishly. "We had to climb this rope and ring the bell…"

"Lovino failed," said Natalya quite bluntly, causing the said Italian to give her a death glare. The Belarusian girl simply returned it, which caused Lovino to give a frightened squeak and fix his eyes back onto the television.

"Yeah, well…that damn rope's too fucking high!" Lovino snarled, putting his feet up on the table.

Antonio tsked, waggling a finger in front of Lovino's face, "Language Lovi~! Lien doesn't like that kind of speech…"

At the mention of the Vietnamese woman, Lovino quickly sat up, "Wait, hold on! Lien…s-she's coming here?"

Antonio's beam grew even wider, if that was possible. He nodded vigorously, "_Si_! _Si_! She's coming over for dinner than she and I are going to go out and just have a walk around in the moonlight! It's going to be so romantic~!"

"So instead of treating her out to a restaurant, you become a cheap ass and make shit at home?" Lovino asked, sniffing. "Damn you're such a fucking cheap ass!"

Antonio flushed, "Oh, Lovi...I'm not a cheap ass! Lien wanted to come to our apartment, anyway! I wanted to cook for her!"

"What are you making for _noona _anyway, da ze?" questioned Yong Soo, pointing at the thin sheet and the rolling pin on the kitchen bench.

This question seemed to make Antonio excited. He hopped over to what was on the kitchen bench and grinned from ear-to-ear. "It's marzipan!"

"Marzipan?" Matthew asked, pushing his glasses up his nose. "What's that?"

"Why, _mi amigo_!" Antonio looked shocked. "Marzipan is one of the best things to eat ever! It's a yummy sweet made of sugar and almond meal mainly!" at the word "sweet," everyone moved in more closely, even Natalya, who pretended not to care, but she was as interested as everyone else.

"Marzipan for Lien, da ze?" Yong was grinning. "She _loves_ sweets! Even when she's in a bad mood, sweets calm her down, da ze!"

Antonio was smiling, "_Muy bueno_! _Mi amour_ will be so happy when I'm done making this! I just need to make these into flowers…"

"Flowers?" Natalya arched her eyebrows. "You can make flowers out of this…marzipan?

"Of course, _mi amiga_!" laughed Antonio. "You can make all kinds of shapes from marzipan! I'm just making flowers for Lien. _Lotus_ flowers to be exact!"

"_Noona _will _love_ that, da ze!" Yong Soo said, leaning closer to the bench, getting really excited. "Lotus flowers are her favourite kind of flower! Especially red ones, da ze!"

"I know!" Antonio raised up some red food gel colouring and went back to his cooking. However, he smiled again, "Lovi~ why don't you tell me what's wrong in climbing the rope in PE?"

Lovino's scowl returned to his face at once. He snorted and leaned back on the high stool, crossing his arms over his chest. "None of your business, bastard!" he snapped.

Antonio pouted, "Oh come on, Lovi~! Are you scared of the rope?"

Lovino's face reddened instantly, "I lost my confidence is all!"

Antonio cooed, ruffling the Italian's hair, "Aw, Lovi~! Your face is red like a tomato! It's _so_ cute~!"

"Hahaha! His face _is_ like a tomato, da ze!" Yong Soo reached over and began pulling on Lovino's cheeks.

The Italian snapped again, "What the hell is _wrong_ with you bastards?! Honestly!"

Matthew then noticed that there was only marzipan that the Spanish man was cooking. He asked, "Hey Antonio, you said that Lien was coming over to have dinner with you…what are you making for dinner? I mean…marzipan is a sweet, so wouldn't it be a dessert?"

Antonio laughed, "Ah~! You're sharp, _Mateo_! I'm actually trying to make some food from Lien's home country!"

"You're making Vietnamese food?" asked Lovino, both surprised and a little _grudgingly _impressed. "Didn't think you'd have it in you, bastard."

Yong Soo however looked more impressed than the Italian, "Which Vietnamese dish are you trying to make for _noona_, da ze?"

Antonio was scratching his head with one handle of the rolling pin. "Um I can't pronounce it properly…_pero_, it's called uh…Cow Low?"

Yong Soo chuckled, "You mean _Cao Lầu_, da ze!"

"Oh yeah!" Antonio gave a sheepish laugh as he checked on his cooking on the stove. He froze on the spot. "Oh no!"

"What? What's wrong, bastard?" questioned Lovino.

Antonio cried, "I burnt the egg noodles!"

Everyone looked quickly and saw that the Spanish man was true to his word – the poor noodles were very dark, close to black, and probably not as edible as it could have been. It was curdling inward and the smell wasn't pleasant, either.

Lovino wrinkled his nose in disgust and pinched his nose, "That smells like complete shit! And you ruined perfectly good pasta, too!"

Yong Soo gagged, "Eww…burnt egg noodles…definitely not something that originated from Korea…"

"Oh shut up, fool," snapped Natalya as she fanned the odour away with her open hand.

Antonio was visibly panicking, practically running around the kitchen, clutching his head, "_Ay Dios mio_! What am I going to do now?! Lien will be here in an hour and the noodles are ruined! I was so distracted with the marzipan and Lovi being all unconfident with the rope that I forgot!"

"Move it, bastard!" Lovino rolled his eyes as he hopped off his seat and went into the kitchen. "_I'll_ make some pasta…" he peered into the pantry and almost had a heart attack.

There _was_ no pasta.

"What the hell?!" he screeched. "We ran out of pasta?! Antonio, you bastard! You were supposed to be out going for the groceries! What the fuck happened?!"

"Ah…I'm so sorry, Lovi…I guess I was so caught up in buying the ingredients for the marzipan that I forgot about buying pasta other than the egg noodles," Antonio was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Lovino's eyes were bulging, "Chigi! You _son_ of a fucking-!"

There was a knock on the door that caused everyone to swerve their heads around. Antonio yelped, "_Ayayay_! She's here _already_?!"

Natalya calmly walked over to the door and swung it open, however, it wasn't Lien.

Instead, Gilbert and Francis barged on through, causing a huge raucous. They immediately hid behind curtains, which puzzled everyone.

However, their puzzlement was answered when Arthur stormed inside the apartment, his face red and steam was practically flying out of his ears. He shouted, "WHERE THE BLOODY HELL _ARE_ THOSE DAMN GITS?!"

"I'm not so sure, but calm down, Arthur," Lien then walked inside the apartment, causing Antonio to almost faint. She wrinkled her nose, "Something smells like really burnt egg noodle in here…"

The four teenagers at the kitchen bench gave each other a glance when Arthur found two pairs of feet poking out from underneath a curtain. "_THERE _YOU TWITS ARE!"

"This night is so fucked up in many ways than just one…" grumbled Lovino.

* * *

[_**Music Corner:**_ **Guess Who** by _Kevin McLeod_, Scene: Comedic]

After the squabble between everyone, Antonio eventually snapped at Gilbert, Francis and Arthur for coming into his apartment without warning, which made everyone so scared that even Natalya's facial expression changed to that of utmost shock.

"WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY?! _AY DIOS MIOS_!"

Lovino cowered behind a trembling Matthew, who was hugging Kumajirou even closer to himself. Yong Soo was clutching onto Matthew's arm, trying to scoot away from the raging Spaniard (since he was the closest) and Natalya tried to look calm, but truth be told, she was quite disturbed by the Spanish man's sudden angry outburst. Gilbert and Francis were hugging each other, now fearful of Antonio's temper, which was explosive once set off. They were also cowering behind Arthur, who was nervously backing away himself.

Lien was just standing there amongst the whole thing; she finished talking on her cell phone. She sighed when she hung up; men could sometimes be so much more emotional than women.

She saw Antonio angry before, but didn't think he'd come out over something like cooking dinner wrong and people interrupting (not like the date even started). She was happy that he thought their date was a priority though, but decided that a happy Antonio was far better than an angry one and that everyone shouldn't have to suffer from his wrath.

"I WAS GOING TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF A LOVELY DINNER WITH _MI HERMOSA_, BUT _NO_! YOU COME IN HERE AND RUIN MY ALREADY CRAP MOOD! THINGS HAVE BEEN A DISASTER SO FAR! THE EGG NOODLES BURNED DOWN AND I HAVEN'T EVEN FINISHED THE SWEET SURPRISE FOR _MI AMOR _AND YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY APARTMENT! GET THE HELL _OUT _YOU SONS OF A-!"

He was abruptly cut off when Lien cupped his face, turned him to look at her, and captured his lips with hers.

"!"

And all too soon, Antonio shut his eyes and wrapped his arm around the Vietnamese woman, pulling her in, returning her kiss. Everyone watched in amazement at how quickly his mood changed. By the time the two broke apart, Antonio was back to his happy, bubbly self…that is until he remembered that he had burnt the egg noodles for dinner and Lien was there.

He was in panic mode all over again, yelping in Spanish until Lien caught his wrist and shook her head, almost laughing. "No need to panic," she said quite calmly, amused at the Spanish man. "I ordered pizza."

"Oh…" Antonio felt himself redden and he sheepishly rubbed his head, apologizing to his friends and Arthur for yelling at them earlier.

"Toni, there's no need – we shouldn't have just barged in here without permission," Gilbert waved a hand dismissively.

"_Oui_," agreed Francis. "Especially since you are on a dinner date! Even though we would have _loved_ to see how it went, _mon ami_!" he winked at Lien, which earned him a flick on the forehead by Antonio.

"Pizza delivery!" a voice called out, knocking on the door. Arthur opened and retrieved the five boxes. Of course, since five boxes of large pizzas weren't exactly the lightest thing; the British gentleman was struggling with them in his hold.

"_Gracias_!" Antonio easily took the five pizza boxes from Arthur and made his way to the dining table. He carefully set them down and began spreading out and opening them to reveal rich aromas wafting the air, replacing the unpleasant one the burnt egg noodles did earlier.

Arthur's eye twitched as he sighed and rubbed his head; well, since the Spanish git had barely any brains, he made up for it with strength…

While everyone was settling down on the couch, dining table or kitchen bench, Antonio continued making the marzipan lotus flower for Lien. His Vietnamese girlfriend eventually went up to him to see what he was up to. "What are you doing?" she questioned him.

Antonio beamed and shook his head, "It's a surprise, _mi amor_!"

Lien tilted her head, "Oh really now? And what is this surprise?"

"You'll see, _cariño_!"

Pretty soon, while everyone was eating, conversation was made around the apartment. Antonio definitely didn't expect to have all of his friends around, plus, he would've preferred going on a date with Lien _alone_…but, being around friends was very nice, too. Especially when no-one was killing each other yet. During all of this, he was able to continue crafting his sweet masterpiece for his beloved.

The conversation soon wafted over what happened to the four teenagers in school. Gilbert guzzled down some coke and nodded, "Oh yeah! I remember that rope! It was easy as hell! You should've seen me back then – I climbed to the top _no_ problem and I was able to awesomely ring that bell!"

Francis rolled his eyes, but laughed, "Indeed, _mon cher_. I remember that rope, too – it took me a while, but I was able to climb it up."

"Were you scared or something, da ze?" Yong Soo asked, looking carefully at Lovino while he spoke. The Italian said nothing as he continued munching on his slice of pizza.

"No, no, I wasn't scared – I was just, ah, how should I put it? _Physically_ weaker than _mes amis_!" responded Francis as he waved a dismissive hand. "Ah…but it is a price for being so beautiful. My time was bad, but I still made it to the bell! I was quite proud of myself."

"Toni and I were proud, too!" Gilbert smirked as he wrapped an arm around his French friend. "Since you weren't into that shit. yet you were still able to make it to the bell!"

Lovino was deathly quiet while this was going on. Arthur could tell that the Italian wasn't happy with the topic, which naturally led the British man to believe that Lovino wasn't able to climb the rope.

The gentleman felt pity for him – he saw one boy who wasn't able to climb that rope back in his high school days and thus, the poor kid was labelled as weak and a coward by the other boys. Arthur, however, didn't participate in the name-calling; he thought it to be immature and not gentlemanly at all.

"So I take it you were all able to climb the rope?"

"Well…" Matthew trailed off. "I wasn't able to…"

"How come?" Francis asked, a little surprised.

"By the time we reached Lovino, PE was over," the Belarusian girl suddenly spoke up. Lovino gave her a wide-eyed look at her half-lie. She returned it with a sharp look, feigning him to stay silent.

"That's a shame," Gilbert sighed, but then he came over and patted Lovino's back. "But I bet you would've been able to climb that rope easily, eh, Lovino?"

"_Oui_, there's no doubt you'd do just fine," agreed Francis as he drank some water (he prohibited drinking wine in front of people under eighteen).

"_Ja_! I mean, you'd have to be some serious _chicken_ to not be able to climb just a piece of unawesome rope!"

More words of confidence, that were actually accidental insults from the two men, were drumming right into Lovino's ears. He found that he was trembling as the voices were at first buzzing into his ear, then eventually tolled like a funeral bell. He then snapped.

"CHIGI! SHUT UP DAMMIT! I WASN'T ABLE TO CLIMB THE FUCKING ROPE! I CHICKENED OUT, ALRIGHT?! NOW JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Everyone looked at him, quite shocked, especially Natalya and Antonio from the kitchen. A huge awkward silence hung in the air until Lovino broke it by grabbing his plate, placed a few more slices of pizza on it and stormed off to his room, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.

Arthur shook his head at the two men, "Now look what you've done, you bloody gits…"

Lien stood up from her seat as she walked over to Lovino's room. Antonio also dropped his (almost complete) marzipan masterpiece and went with the Vietnamese woman to his cousin's room. Antonio knocked on the door, "Lovi? Lovi, _mi tomate_, are you okay?" he asked gently.

"Fuck off!" screamed Lovino's muffled voice. Lien flinched at the swearing.

Antonio tsked and knocked on the door again, "Lovi! It's not good to swear! We're all worried about you outside and we want to help…"

"I don't need your help!"

"Lovino!" Lien this time knocked on the door. "Lovino…me, Antonio and everyone else out here only care about your well-being. Now open the door and please talk to us – we're all just worried about you."

There was a silence from the other side of the door. Eventually, there was the sound of a lock being undone and Lien was able to swing the door open. Lovino sat back on his bed, eating the slices of pizza, with an incredibly red face.

Lien came inside and sat on the foot of the bed. "You weren't able to climb the rope in PE, is that right?" she asked him gently.

Lovino gave a small nod, but he looked away, his face redder than ever. Antonio really wanted to pinch and squeeze Lovino's cheeks right there and then, but he knew that this was the time to be serious – Lovino wasn't happy and if Antonio tried pulling on those cheeks right now, it would probably worsen the Italian's mood.

"It's just a rope," Lien reassured. "I don't see the big deal of climbing one anyway…"

"I'm not pissed – _angry_ because of the rope…" he mumbled before Lien could finish her sentence. This surprised Antonio and Lien. They exchanged glances before looking back at the Italian again.

"What do you mean, Lovi?" questioned Antonio.

The Italian nibbled a bit more on his slice of pizza before responding. "I'm sick and tired of being a weak piece of crap…I was fine climbing the stupid rope at first, but then I got scared after thinking that it was so high and everyone was yelling at me…"

"Ah…so you lost confidence," Antonio said.

Lovino glared up at the Spanish man, "I don't have much of it to begin with!" he hissed.

Lien shook her head and patted Lovino's shoulder. "Self-confidence is hard to build," she said soothingly. "But without it, you can't grow or expect anything to happen. You won't be able to climb the rope without it."

"I just can't climb that stupid rope," grumbled Lovino. "And I can't even talk to the girl I like properly…" he added as an afterthought. "I'm just going to fail as miserably as before…"

He hadn't realized he said the last part aloud, which made a huge smile spread across Antonio's face. "You're just not confident, Lovi~!" the Spanish man beamed and sat in front of his cousin. "You need more confidence!"

"Indeed he does."

The trio on the bed looked up to see that Arthur and Lovino's friends were at the doorway, clearly worried about what was happening with the Italian. Yong Soo immediately rushed into the room and wrapped his arm around Lovino's shoulders, "Don't worry, da ze! Lovino, you just need to be confident! Believe you can do it, da ze! Believe it!"

"Shut up, kimchi bastard," snapped Lovino. Yong Soo's response was just a laugh as Matthew took a spot on the bed, too. Natalya sat on the foot of the bed as well while Arthur simply stood up and watched what would happen next.

"They're right, you know," Natalya said. "You lack confidence in many things you do…even though you bark too much."

Lovino's face reddened, but he didn't disagree. He swallowed the lump in his throat and remained quiet. This bothered everyone in the room – was the rough and stubborn Italian _really_ that lacking in self-confidence? It seemed so impossible and bizarre to them because he didn't seem like the type of person to have a problem in that area.

Seeing that Lovino was still sad, Antonio decided to cheer him up with one way that would delight everyone. He glanced at the clock, "Well, it's almost nine o'clock, _mi amigo_! How about I tell everyone a story?"

"A story?" Arthur retorted. "Are you bloody mad?"

"Why not?" questioned Antonio, annoyed at the British man's rude reply. "I know the perfect story for a time like this! Plus, I'm sure no-one else would mind…"

"_Yes_, we bloody-!"

"A story, da ze? Oh yeah! Tell us, _hyeong_ Antonio! Tell us now, da ze!" Yong Soo was eagerly bouncing up and down on Lovino's bed, which caused the other recipients to squeal.

Matthew fixed his glasses on his perch as he smiled, "It would be nice to hear a story. We've heard so many from Mr Yao and Mr Heracles, but never one from you Antonio."

"I presume this is a story from Spain then?" Lien smiled when Antonio sat close to her.

"Of course!" beamed Antonio as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's a story _papi _told me when I was really little. Lovi~ would you like to hear it?"

Lovino glanced up at his cousin and didn't respond. Instead, he gave a shrug, which Antonio was happy to take as a _"yes._"

"_Muy bueno_! Okay! The story is called _"The Magic Mirror…"_"

"You better not tell us the story of Snow White," Lovino then snarled. Everyone looked confused at his snap, particularly Antonio.

"Why is that, _mi tomate_?"

"It's a fucking _German_ story."

"Oh…" Antonio almost forgot that Lovino hated anything to do with Germany. The Spanish man shook his head and gave a laugh, "No, no, Lovi~! It's got nothing to do with Snow White! It's a story from Spain! Don't you worry!"

Lovino narrowed his amber eyes then hugged his pillow as he decided to listen. Everyone else leaned in closer to hear the story, even Arthur. Antonio was ecstatic that all attention was on him, particularly his cousin and Lien's. After clearing his throat, he began.

* * *

__**Once upon a time…**__

__**_[_**Music Corner:**_ **Tan Solo Hazlu Tu** by _Paco Arrojo & Julia Moller_, El Fantasma de la Opera]**_

In the kingdom of Granada, there ruled a King named Spain. He proclaimed throughout his kingdom that he had decided to marry. First, the news was told to the court barber, a man named France, then to the night watchmen, and then to the elders of the city.

France told all of his customers who told all their friends. Then the night watchmen, in crying hour proclaimed the news in their loud voices so that all of the eligible maidens were kept away the whole night, thinking of the news. By the time morning came, the elders would constantly remind the younger generation that King Spain had decided to marry.

That was when the question was put forward, "How will the king choose his wife?"

France replied, "Well, to find a worthy woman, I am afraid that I will have great trouble."

"_You_?" exclaimed everyone in the kingdom. "What have _you_ got to do with providing King Spain a wife?"

"I am the only man permitted to rub the royal features, you see," answered France. "And what's more – I have a magic mirror. If any woman who looks into it is not thoroughly good, then her reflection will have so many blemishes on its clear surface."

"Is this one of the conditions?" everyone asked.

"That is the _only_ condition," replied France, placing his thumbs into the armholes of his waistcoat, making him look rather smug and wise.

"There is no limit to the age?" everyone again inquired.

"Any single woman from eighteen years upwards is eligible," said France.

"But then that means you will have every woman in Granada claiming the right to be King Spain's queen!" everyone exclaimed.

"But they will simply just have to rationalize their claim," said France calmly. "Each woman will then have to look into the mirror with me by her side."

That one condition imposed on those who wanted to become Queen of Granada was made well known. A lot of people laughed, but a weird thing was that no woman came forward to France the barber to have a look into the mirror.

Soon time passed – days became weeks, and King Spain was no closer to getting a wife. Some of the women would try to convince their friends to go before the mirror, but none seemed willing to do so.

Now, King Spain, you should know, was a very handsome young man and he was greatly loved by all his subjects for his many virtues, so it was a great surprise that none of the lovely ladies who attended court should try to become his wife.

Many excuses and explanations were given; some were already engaged, others claimed to be too proud to enter France's shop. Still, others assured to their friends that they had decided it would be better to stay single.

It was taken note quite quickly that no man in Granada would marry, until King Spain was married - it wouldn't be polite or appropriate for them to even have the thought of marriage. The real problem however, was that no woman was brave enough to look into the mirror.

The fathers of prestigious families soon became irritated by that apparent lack of ambition in their daughters, while the mothers were very silent on the matter entirely.

Every morning, King Spain would ask France the barber if any young lady had come forward to gaze into the mirror's surface, but alas, the answer stayed the same – many watched France's shop to see if others went inside, but nobody would come in themselves.

Unsurprisingly, King Spain was dismayed.

"_Dios mio_!" he cried. "Is there no maiden in this land that is willing to offer herself to be the bride of the king? Kings I know that come from other lands have no trouble at all in getting married! But why is this happening to me? France! You shall get me a wife as bright as the day, as pure as dew and as good as gold – one who shall not be afraid to look into your magic mirror!"

"Your Majesty, there is _one_ possibility," responded France. "There is the shepherdess named Vietnam who lives on the mountainside. She may be brave enough to face the magic power of the mirror, but would you really marry such a person of lowly upbringing?"

This however, didn't deter King Spain one bit, instead, he was greatly interested. "Bid her to come!" he ordered. "In the presence of my assembled court, let the gentle shepherdess, Vietnam, gaze into the mirror, after you have told her of the risk of doing so."

Soon, France had brought the shepherdess Vietnam to court. It was spread throughout the city that a trial was going to be made and so, the royal hall was soon filled with all the ladies and men of King Spain's household.

When Vietnam entered the royal presence, she became rather shy at being surrounded by so much grandeur. King Spain however, was very pleased with her appearance and kindly received her, telling her that if she desired to be his wife, that she would have to gaze into the magic mirror. If she had done anything which was not of a good and virtuous person, then the mirror would show as many stains on its surface as there might be blemishes in her past.

"Your Majesty, everyone makes mistakes and I am no different," answered Vietnam. "I have made mistakes with my flock, but I think they forgave me since every day, they let me care for them and if they sense danger, they go to me for protection. I love my flock and do what's best for them. Honestly, I have no ambition in becoming queen, however I'm not afraid to look into that magic mirror."

Saying this, she walked up to the mirror and peered into it, blinking at her own reflection.

The court ladies then surrounded her. When they saw that the magic mirror showed no stains on its surface, they snatched it from her and passed it around from one to another. They cried, "Look! This is no magic mirror at all! We have been tricked!"

But King Spain shook his head, laughing, "No ladies, you have only yourselves to thank. For if you had as much confidence as this dear shepherdess, who is going to be my wife, then you would not have dreaded to look into the mirror in the first place!"

And so, King Spain married the lovely shepherdess Vietnam and their wedding was one of the most beautiful events of the kingdom. They ruled together with great wisdom and confidence.

__**The End**__

* * *

_At the end, Lovino gains the confidence to climb the rope with only his friends watching him, but unbeknownst to them, Mr Oxenstierna was also watching, so he wrote a pass for Lovino. Also, Antonio finally decide to buy pasta and bring Lien to a restaurant so nobody interrupts the both of them. :)_

_Thoughts and opinions if you'd like. Have a nice day! :DDD_

_Sincerely,  
HetaWriter/HetaReader_


	4. Waiting For Ivan: How to Waste Time

_Good day to you, HetaWriter/HetaReader here. Well, this time, we're off **Once Upon a Time**, and we go to a_ _single random piece, that I just typed up; a Hetalia adaptation (well, the start of it) of the play **Waiting for Godot**._

_I personally liked the play, and I actually have a copy, so I don't know - if there's enough interest and motivation, I might consider doing this as a story, but don't count your chickens before they hatch. ^_^'_

_Anyway, thank you **Ayumi Kudou **and **xXBlueSariaXx **for the reviews! :D_

**_Ayumi Kudou: _**_Haha, glad it's not just me. :) ahh, I see. That's fair enough - I've seen a couple of cute EgyViet comics on zerochan, and they're pretty ambiguous. Well, I'm not a fan of NorViet or JapViet, but the IndViet sounds interesting. *w* do tell me more on this pairing. Ahah, well this is just a collection of random stuff, and I'm not a popular writer, so I don't blame people for not reviewing on this - it's about pieces of things. Even then, I appreciate the few that I get - even if it's just one review on a chapter, it still makes me happy, I admit. =^w^=__  
_

**_xXBlueSariaXx: _**_Thank you! I have the troubling mindset of thinking of many ideas, however I obviously wouldn't have the time to type all of them out properly. Another troublesome aspect is that I can imagine bits and pieces of the story - such as the middle, or just the beginning and the ending, but never together. :( no, it's not weird that you found Antonio's nervousness adorable - I like writing him out as being both shy yet still cheerful towards people he _really _has genuine romantic feelings towards. I sympathize with Lovino, too - I myself am afraid of heights to a bad degree; I personally can't even go on a ferris wheel properly without feeling sick. _ it sort of just clicked in my mind that Lovino, Yong Soo, Matthew and Natalya would be friends. :D__  
_

_****__Piece Title:__ Waiting For Ivan  
**Chapter No.: **1  
**Rating:** T (swearing, innuendos)  
__**Warning: **Human AU, randomness (because it's the Hetalia adaptation of **Waiting for Godot**), some religious talk  
**Pairing/s: **N/A  
**Chapter Summary: **Gilbert and Francis, two poor gentlemen, wait around to finally meet up with a figure that promised them riches, known as "Ivan". While they try to pass the time, they drift into a rather random conversation.  
**Inspiration/s: **Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett_

Cast  
Gilbert Beilschmidt [Prussia] – **Estragon  
**Francis Bonnefoy [France] – **Vladimir  
**Arthur Kirkland [England] – **Pozzo  
**Emil [Iceland] – **Lucky  
**Feliciano [North Italy] – **Boy  
**Ivan Braginski [Russia] – **Godot**

* * *

It was a rather warm evening and everything seemed quite still. The country was filled with swaying wheat that gently bent in the cold breeze and alongside nearby was a road. Near that road was a tree with a few leaves on it.

And near that tree, sitting on a low mound was a man with hair as pale as the moon that would appear soon and eyes as red as blood. He was wearing an old, pale grey coat and some tattered pants of a similar colour. His waistcoat was a red that befitted his eyes and he was also sporting a black bowler hat.

Right now, this strange looking man was trying to yank off one of his black boots. He pulled at it with both hands and panted after the failed attempt. Giving up and now thoroughly exhausted, the man took a small breather before trying again to pull the piece of clothing off of him.

At this time, another man entered the scene. This one had wavy blonde hair and blue eyes that matched his French waistcoat. His coat was black as were his pants and he was wearing brown shoes. A brown bowler hat was on his head. He advanced with short, stiff steps and his legs were wide apart.

He gave a sigh at the other man's direction, "_Mon dieu_…I'm starting to come to the opinion that all my life, I've tried to put it from me, saying to myself, _'Francis, mon cher, be reasonable, you haven't even tried everything_!_'_ and I kept the struggle onward…" for a moment, he had a thoughtful look on his face and looked amused at the pale-haired man's struggle. He laughed, "So, there you are again."

"Am I now?" his pale-haired companion asked, still focused on his boot.

"I'm glad to see you back, _mon ami_," the blonde, Francis, responded fondly. "I thought you had gone away for ever."

"Same here."

"We are together again at last! We shall celebrate this, no? But how?" Francis looked deep in thought and he snapped his fingers. "Get up, Gilbert! Get up so I can embrace you with _amor_!"

"Not now!" snapped Gilbert.

Francis looked hurt by the sharp tone of voice. He looked down at Gilbert coldly, "Hmph. May one inquire as to _where_ His Awesomeness has spent his night?"

"In a ditch."

"A ditch? Where?"

"Over there," Gilbert didn't motion at all just _where_ he spent the night.

"And they didn't beat you?" asked Francis in amazement.

"Beat me?" Gilbert scoffed. "They certainly _did_ beat me."

"Was it the same bunch as usual, _mon ami_?"

"The same?" Gilbert arched an eyebrow. "I…really don't know…"

Francis sighed and rubbed his hand, "When I think of it…all these years…but for me…where would you be?" he added decisively. "You'd be nothing more than a pile of bones at the present minute, no doubt about it."

"And what of it?"

"It's too much for one man, _mon ami_," Francis said gloomily. He paused, but then he smiled again, "On the other hand, what's the point of losing heart now? We should have thought of it a million years ago in the nineties."

"Would you quit blathering and help me get this damn thing off?" Gilbert snapped, gesturing to his boot.

"Hand in hand from the top of the Eiffel Tower among the first," Francis gave a dreamy sigh as his eyes were seeing memories flash before him. "We were presentable in those days; now it's too late. They wouldn't even let us up." He then noticed that his companion was tearing away at his boot. "Gilbert, _mon cher_, what are you doing?"

"Taking off my boot, _verdammt_!" snarled Gilbert. "It just took you _now_ to realize that?!"

"Boots have to be taken off everyday; I'm getting sick of telling you that. When will you listen to me?"

Gilbert gave the Frenchman a pleading look, "Help me already!"

"Does it hurt?" asked Francis.

"Hurts? Ha! The cheese-eater wants to know if it hurts!" Gilbert's voice was laced with obvious sarcasm.

This however made Francis rather irritated, "Nobody ever suffers but you it seems, _mon ami_. I don't count? I'd really like to hear what you'd say if you had what _I _have!"

"Does it hurt?" questioned Gilbert.

"Hurts? Ha! The wurst-eater would like to know if it hurts!" Francis echoed the line Gilbert gave before.

Gilbert scratched his head then pointed down to Francis' lower regions. "Still, you might want to button it up all the same," he said.

Francis gazed down and saw indeed that his buttons were undone. "_Oui_," he buttoned up his fly. "Never neglect the little things of life."

"Well, what'd you expect? You always wait 'till the last damn moment."

"The last moment…" Francis mused and he meditated for a bit. "Hope deferred maketh the something sick, who said that again?"

"Why won't you help me, _verdammt_!" Gilbert seethed, teeth grit.

"Sometimes, I feel it come all the same," Francis merely said. "Then I feel so odd." He then removed his hat, peered inside of it as if to see something pop out, felt the inside, shook it, then placed it on his head again. "Now how shall I say? I feel relieved and at the same time…" his face was deep in thought. "Appalled…" he then repeated the word, much more emphasized. "_Appalled_. _Consterné_."

He took his hat off again and peered inside it. "That's funny," Francis knocked on the crown as if to dislodge a foreign body, peered into it again and finally placed it back on his head. "There is nothing to be done. Well?"

By then, Gilbert was finally successful in pulling his boot off of his foot. He sighed in relief, and looked inside of it. He then felt its inside, turned it upside down, shook it, and looked on the ground to see if anything had fallen out in a peculiarly similar manner to Francis and his hat. Once Gilbert found nothing, he felt the boot's inside again as his gaze was looking sightlessly before him.

"There's nothing," the pale-haired man finally said.

Francis made a beckoning gesture, "Show."

"There's nothing to show."

"Well, try and put it on again, _mon cher_."

Gilbert paused and examined his foot, which was now red and a little swollen, "I think I'll let it have some fresh air for a bit."

"There's man all over for you, blaming on his boots the faults of his feet," Francis mused as he took off his bowler hat yet again and peered inside of it. He felt its inside, knocked on the ground, blew into it, and placed it back upon his golden locks. "_Mon dieu_, this is becoming rather alarming."

There was a rather awkward silence between the two with Francis deep in thought while Gilbert was pulling at his red toes. After a little while, Francis chose to speak again.

"One of the thieves was saved. It's a reasonable percentage," seeing that there was no response, Francis called his friend. "Gillie?"

"_Was_?" Gilbert asked, looking up.

"Suppose that we repented."

"Repented what?"

"Oh…" Francis began to reflect. "We wouldn't have to go into the details now, do we _mon cher_?"

"Our being born?" joked Gilbert, though he felt slightly squeamish at the details that his French friend was thinking of.

Francis laughed aloud but immediately stifled it as he presses a hand to his lower regions, face contorted in pain. He moaned, "_Donc gênant_. One can't even laugh anymore."

"What an unawesome privation."

"Simply smile," Francis did so, but it ceased after a while, he was obviously still in pain. "It's just not the same…nothing to be done, too. Gillie."

"What?" asked Gilbert irritably.

"Have you ever read the Bible?"

"The Bible…" Gilbert rubbed his chin and sat in a thinking position. "I must have taken a look at it."

"Do you remember the Gospels?"

"Well, I remember the maps of the Holy Land. They were coloured in…_sehr hübsch_. The Dead Sea was a very pale blue, too. The look of it made me so thirsty, which was not awesome at the slightest." He sat upright again and heaved a sigh, "I used to say that that's where we'll go for our honeymoon. We'll swim, we'll be happy, and we'll be awesome together."

"_Mon cher_, you should have been a poet," teased Francis.

"I was," snorted Gilbert as he gestured down towards his ragged clothes. "Isn't that obvious?"

Another awkward silence hung the air between the two men. However, Francis broke it eventually.

"Where was I…" the Frenchman stood in thought. "Oh yes, how is your foot?"

"It's obviously swelling."

"Yes now, the two thieves. Do you remember that story, _mon cher_?"

"_Nein_."

"Well, shall I tell you it?"

"_Nein_."

* * *

**A/N: **_Next bit has a talk about religion between Francis and Gilbert, but if you'd like to skip, just go to the next A/N. ^_^'_

* * *

"_Mais, mon ami_! It will pass time!" seeing Gilbert look up with rather dreary eyes, Francis chose it as a sign to continue. "Well, there were two thieves, both crucified at the same time as our Saviour. Now one – "

"Our what?"

"Our Saviour. Now, two thieves. One was supposed to have been saved while the other was…" he paused to think of a word that was the opposite to saved. "_Damned_…"

"Saved from what?"

"Hell."

"The awesome me is going," however, Gilbert didn't budge from his spot.

"And yet…" Francis paused again. "How is it that of the four Evangelists only one speaks of a thief being saved? The four of them were there and only one spoke of a thief that was saved." He paused again. "Come now, _mon cher_. Gillie, speak back to me, can't you for once?"

Gilbert responded with exaggerated enthusiasm, "I find this as both extraordinarily interesting _and_ as awesome as me!"

"One out of four," continued Francis, ignoring his friend's sarcasm. "Of the other three, two don't mention any thieves at all and the third mentions that it was _both _that abused him."

"Who?"

"_Qu'est-ce_?"

"What's all this about again? Abused who?"

"The Saviour."

"_Warum_?"

"Because he wouldn't save them."

"From hell?"

"_Imbécile_! From death."

"I thought you said hell before."

"From death, from death, _mon cher_!"

"Well, what of it?"

"Then the two of them must have been damned," concluded Francis.

"And why not?" questioned Gilbert.

"But one of the four says that one of the two was saved," Francis said slowly, thinking deeply.

"Then they don't agree! Simple as that!" snapped Gilbert. "And that's all there is to it!"

"But all four were there," protested Francis. "And only one spoke of a thief that was saved. Why believe him rather than the others?"

* * *

**A/N: **_Religious conversation ended. You may continue._

* * *

"Who believes him?"

"_Everyone_. It's the only version they know of," answered Francis.

"Then people are stupid, unawesome apes," snorted Gilbert who painfully rose. He limped to his left, stopped and gazed into the distance with his hand screening his eyes. He then turned, went right and gazed into the distance. Francis watched him for a bit and went to pick up the Prussian man's discarded boot. The Frenchman peered into it, but dropped it quite quickly.

"_Mon dieu_!" Francis spat. "What a foul odour!"

Gilbert chose to move to the centre now, he stops. "Awesome spot. Awesome prospects," he said and turned to Francis. "Let's go."

Francis shook his head, "We can't."

"And why not?"

"We're waiting for Ivan."

Gilbert looked like he was in total despair, "Ah! You're sure it was here?"

"Pardon?"

"Are you sure that we have to wait."

"He said by the tree."

Both men turned and looked at the tall tree that only sported a few leaves on its long, spindly branches. Both scratched their heads.

"Do you see any others?" Francis asked his companion.

Gilbert shook his head as he peered hard at it. "What is it?" he wondered.

Francis shrugged, "I don't know. A willow maybe?"

"Shouldn't there be more leaves that that?"

"It's dying, maybe."

"No more weeping."

"Or perhaps it's not the season, _mon ami_."

"Looks more like a bush than a tree to me," commented Gilbert.

"A shrub," said Francis.

"A bush," Gilbert faced the Frenchman.

"A—" Francis stopped himself and gave the Prussian man a questioning look. "What are you saying? That we've come into the wrong place?"

"Well, he _should _be here," responded Gilbert.

"He didn't say that he'd come for sure."

"And what if he _doesn't _come?" Gilbert looked irritated.

"We'll come back tomorrow, _mon ami_."

"And then the day after tomorrow."

"Possibly."

"And so on."

"The point is—"

"Until he comes," Gilbert cut in, now deflated.

"You're merciless."

"We came here yesterday."

"No, no," Francis shook his head and waved a dismissive hand in his friend's direction. "You have been mistaken there."

"What did we even do yesterday?"

"What did we do yesterday?" Francis echoed the question as Gilbert nodded in response, "Yeah…"

"Why…" Francis' face was becoming red and his nostrils flared. "Nothing is certain when _you're_ about!"

"In my opinion, we were here."

Francis gazed around him, "Do you recognize this place?"

"I didn't even say stuff about that," answered Gilbert, annoyed.

"Well?"

"That doesn't even make a difference!"

"Still, all the same…that tree…that bog."

"Are you sure it was even meant to be evening?"

"_Qu'est-ce_?"

"Are we supposed to wait here in evening?"

"He said Saturday," Francis paused. "I think…"

"You think?" Gilbert looked at the Frenchman in total disbelief.

"I must have made a note of it at least," Francis fumbled in his pockets. He was emptying them out and out came a lot of rubbish and junk that didn't capture the Prussian man's interest in any way.

"But what Saturday?" Gilbert's red eyes were flashing rather sinisterly. "And is it even Saturday? Maybe it's Sunday? Or Monday or Friday!"

Francis by now looked rather panicked. He was frantically looking around him as though he hoped that the date was marked somewhere on the landscape they were on. "_Mon dieu! _This is impossible!"

"Heh, maybe even Thursday…"

"What are we going to do?"

"If he came yesterday and we weren't here, he sure as hell won't be coming again today."

"B-but…you said that we were here yesterday."

"The awesome me could be mistaken," Gilbert paused. "Though _that's_ really rare. _Ja_, do you mind not talking for a moment?"

Francis nodded, though he looked quite feeble, "_O-Oui_."

* * *

_And that's the end of this part of **Waiting For Ivan**. It's pretty short, but I didn't know where to end the chapter, so I just ended it when I felt hungry. XD the next bit I typed up has Pozzo and Lucky in it. Also, if this one was random and/or confusing, then don't worry - that was actually the whole point of the play...XD_

_Thoughts and opinions if you wish. Otherwise, I hope you have a beautiful day! :DDD_

_Sincerely,  
HetaWriter/HetaReader_


	5. Waiting For Ivan: Arthur's Lucky

_Some more of **Waiting For Ivan**, but this is the last one of it. =^w^= it skips a bit forward to the part where Francis and Gilbert meet Arthur and Emil. Anyway, thank you **Ayumi Kudou **for the review! :D_

**_Ayumi_**_** Kudou**: Thank you! I honestly get annoyed when people portray Vietnam like that - I don't care if the person who portrays her like that is Vietnamese and thinks that that should be how she's like; not every Vietnamese person is like that. Also, Himaruya had clearly described her as _"humble and shy"_ in her profile in Volume 5, so it makes me flabbergasted and peeved whenever they do that. Also, I'm not a fan of tsunderes - most of them are rather flat and annoying. The only exception to that rule so far is England and Romano because they're not flat characters; I'm sure there are some more tsunderes I like, but most rub me the wrong way. There's a writer who writes EngNam [ChokoKoko] - and she doesn't portray Vietnam as a hot-headed tsundere. :) India would definitely be a gentleman - but to be honest...I pair him with Prussia sometimes...^_^' EgyViet sounds quite cute. :) well, you're not giving your information (i.e. address, real name, etc) to these people, so it's not really that dangerous - besides, if you get DA, you can just appear invisible; that's what I do in my status anyway. XD to be honest...I'm not a huge fan of zombie-apocalypse stories; simply because there was someone who I had an RP with, and her RP'ing...wasn't really that good. ^_^' also, most of them tend to sound repetitive and similar, so I lose interest. The only exceptions to that so far for me are **Lollipop Chainsaw **(because it uses humour to make it unique), **The Walking Dead** (because you control every choice you make as Lee) and **The Last of Us **(because there's a better and more believable explanation of being infected). Putting unlikely characters in a situation together does sound like a good idea, though. :)_

_Last part of **Waiting For Ivan**._

* * *

"I hear nothing," said Gilbert with a light scowl.

"Shhh!" Francis quickly shushed him.

The both of them listened hard again. In fact so hard, that Gilbert lost his balance and almost fell over. As a result, he immediately clutched one of Francis' arms, causing him to hobble over. However, they were both able to quickly fix and adjust in their new position, with the both of them ending up huddling together.

Francis then sighed in relief, "Nor I, _mon ami_."

The both of them relaxed and separated from their position. "You frightened the hell outta me," remarked Gilbert.

"I apologize," said Francis. "I just thought it was he."

"Who?"

"Ivan."

"Pah!" Gilbert spat. "The wind in the reeds!"

"I could've sworn I heard shouts, _mon ami_," said Francis thoughtfully as he tapped his chin.

"And why would he shout?" questioned Gilbert.

"At his horse?" suggested Francis.

Upon that reply, there was some silence that hung in the air for a moment. However, not long after, Gilbert then whined quite violently, "The awesome me is hungry!"

"Do you want a carrot?" Francis offered.

Gilbert inquired, "Is that all there is?"

Francis then began patting at his coat pockets, "I might have some turnips on me, actually…"

Gilbert shook his head, "_Nein_! Give the awesome me a carrot!" this prompted Francis to rummage through his pockets. The Frenchman then whipped out a turnip and handed it over to Gilbert. The Prussian took only a bite out of the vegetable, but spat it out soon after, snapping angrily, "This is a turnip!"

"Oh, _pardon_!" exclaimed Francis. "I could have sworn it was a carrot." He then rummaged through his pockets again, only to find nothing but more turnips in there. He licked his lips, "All that is, are turnips…you must have eaten the last carrot…" however, upon rummaging through his pockets again, he then arched an eyebrow, "Wait, hold on…ahh! I have it." He then finally brought out the carrot and gave it to Gilbert, "There you go, _mon ami_." Gilbert took it with a grateful nod as Francis concluded, "Make it last, that's the end of them."

The Prussian man wiped the carrot on his sleeve and started nibbling on the pointy tip, "I asked you a question."

"_Oui_," said Francis.

"Did you answer?" inquired Gilbert.

"How is the carrot?"

"It's a carrot."

Francis simply nodded, "So much the better, so much better." He then paused before continuing, "What was it you wanted to know?"

Gilbert opened his mouth, only to stop and give a frown, "I've forgotten." He then chewed, "That's what annoys me." He gave the carrot an appreciative look and dangled it between his index finger and thumb, "I'll never forget this carrot." He sucked the end of it meditatively, "Ah…! _Ja_! Now the awesome me has remembered!"

"Nothing to be done," sighed Gilbert. He then glanced down at his carrot, and, after a moment of hesitation, offered the remains of it to Francis, "Wanna finish it?"

Before Francis could answer however, there was a terrible cry that resounded throughout the area. A sound so loud and ringing, that Gilbert dropped his carrot. The pair of them remained motionless, then rushed off to close to the side. Gilbert stopped halfway however and ran back to pick up his carrot, stuff it in his pocket, then ran back to join Francis again, who was waiting for him. However, the Prussian stopped yet again, and ran back to pick up his boot, _then _he finally joined Francis.

The both of them huddled together with their shoulders hunched as they cringed away from the source of the noise.

They could only wait.

Funny enough, the source was actually what appeared to be a slightly short man with messy blonde hair and wearing a bowler hat as well. He had the _bushiest _pair of eyebrows that the pair had ever seen to the point that they both mistook them to be two hairy caterpillars that just stuck to his face.

What was odd, however, was that he was driving what appeared to be a young man, and this young man had a piece of rope around his neck. The boy was wearing a bowler hat, too, and had pale hair as well as rather downcast violet eyes. He was carrying a heavy bag, a folding stool, a picnic basket, and a greatcoat.

"On!" the new blonde shouted in a British accent. There was the crack of a whip and the young, pale-haired boy passed before Francis and Gilbert before leaving. However, upon catching sight of Francis and Gilbert, the British man stopped short, causing the rope to tauten. The British man then jerked it violently, "Back!"

There was then the noise of the pale-haired young man falling with all his baggage. Upon seeing this, Francis and Gilbert turned towards him, both half-wishing and half-fearing to go to his assistance. Francis however then took a step forward to the boy, but Gilbert held him back by the sleeve.

"_Lâche-moi_!" snapped Francis.

"Stay put, Franny!" yelled Gilbert.

"Careful there, chaps!" called the British man. "He's wicked." This prompted Francis and Gilbert to turn towards him, before he finished, "With strangers."

Gilbert then nudged Francis and muttered, "Is that him?"

"Who?" questioned Francis.

Gilbert scowled as he tried to remember the name, "Err…"

"Ivan?"

"_Ja_."

"I present myself to you gents: Arthur," the British man said stiffly.

Francis groaned then shook his head to Gilbert, "Not at all!"

"What's wrong with this guy?" questioned Gilbert as he then motioned to Emil.

"He looks tired," noted Francis.

"Then why doesn't he just put his bags down?"

"How would I know?" they both closed in on him. "Careful!"

"Say something to him," said Gilbert as he poked at the Frenchman's shoulder.

Francis then gasped, "_Mon dieu_! Look!"

"What?" asked Gilbert in response as he looked at Emil again.

Francis pointed at the young man's neck to where the rope was tied, "His neck!"

Gilbert glanced down Emil's, but could only see the ribbon tied at the front and over the rope, "The awesome me sees nothing…"

Francis rolled his eyes, "_Here_."

The Prussian man scowled a bit as he came over to go beside the Frenchman, and squinted down at Emil's neck again, this time, seeing the rope tied there. Gilbert exclaimed, "Whoa! What the-?!"

"A running sore!" gasped Francis.

"It's the rope," reasoned Gilbert.

"The rubbing," agreed the Frenchman.

Gilbert shrugged, "It's inevitable."

"It's the knot," Francis said quietly.

"It's the chafing."

The both of them then averted their eyes away from his neck, this time, choosing to dwell on his face. The boy appeared very pale-skinned, however the skin seemed smooth to touch, despite being slightly mottled with dirt and grime. The eyes were a pretty shade of a light violet, too, but they appeared slightly blank.

Francis then gave a little smirk as he rubbed his chin after inspecting the young man's face. He gave that weird sounding chuckle he would always do, "_Ohonhonhon_~ he's not bad-looking."

Gilbert however shrugged with a wry face, "Would you say so? He looksa bit effeminate to the awesome me."

* * *

_**A/N: **There's some introduction between Francis and Gilbert with Arthur and Emil. Then Arthur eats some food, and Gilbert wants the chicken bones to gnaw on. So Arthur hands it to him, however Francis still gets steamed at seeing Emil in such a pitiful state._

* * *

Francis then bristled, "It's a scandal!"

From his outburst, there was a heavy silence that followed straight after. Gilbert actually looked flabbergasted at his French friend's outburst and stopped gnawing at the bones for a moments. He then glanced warily at Arthur and Francis in turn. The British man however appeared rather calm (at least outwardly, anyway), while Francis himself appeared a bit embarrassed from his little outbreak.

"Are you alluding to anything in particular, sir?" Arthur asked with a frown creasing his bushy eyebrows.

Francis found himself stuttering a bit, however, he was _not _to be put down, "To treat a man…" he then gestured towards Emil. "…like that…I think that, _no_…a _human being_…no…it's…it's a _scandal_!"

Not to be outdone, Gilbert added, "A disgrace!" he then resumed in gnawing his chicken bones again.

Arthur merely sniffed, "You are severe, frog. What age are you?" after some silence, the British man tilted his head, "Thirty? Forty?" seeing the angered and scandalized look on the Frenchman's face, Arthur then shook his head as he nodded at Gilbert, "What about him? What age would you say he was?"

Gilbert spoke up, "Eighteen."

Arthur sighed, "I am impertinent."

* * *

"What was it exactly you wanted to know?" questioned Arthur, now looking curious.

"Why he-?" began Francis, only to be cut off angrily by the Brit.

"Don't interrupt me!" he then paused, and spoke calmly again, "If we all speak at once, we'll never get anywhere." He then paused for a moment to think, "What was I saying?" he paused again to recall, "What _was _I saying?"

Rolling his eyes, Francis then mimicked how one would look carrying a heavy burden. This caused Arthur to look at him, puzzled.

Gilbert sighed and said forcibly, "Bags." He pointed at Emil as he spoke simply and slowly, "Why? Always hold." He then sagged and panted, "Never put down." The Prussian opened his hands and straightened up with relief, "Why?"

Arthur gave a look of understanding, "Ah! Why couldn't you just say so before, old chap? Why he doesn't make himself comfortable? Let's try and get this clear – has he not the right to? Certainly he has. It follows that he simply doesn't want to. There's reasoning for you, and why doesn't he want to?" he then paused a little bit before speaking again, "Gentlemen, the reason is this."

Francis then whispered to Gilbert, "Make a note of this."

"_He_ wants to impress me, so that I'll keep him," explained Arthur finally.

"What?" asked Gilbert in shock.

"Perhaps I haven't got it quite right," said Arthur. "He wants to mollify me, so that I'll give up the idea of parting with him. No, that's not exactly it, either."

"You want to get _rid _of him?" Francis asked incredulously.

"He wants to cod me, but he won't."

"You want to get rid of him?" repeated Francis.

"He imagines that when I see how well he carries, I'll be tempted to keep him on in that capacity."

"You've had enough of him?" questioned Gilbert.

"But really, he carries like a pig," sighed Arthur. "It's not his job."

Francis called again, "You want to get rid of him?"

"He imagines that when I see him indefatigable, I'll regret my decision," said Arthur. "such is his miserable scheme. As though I were short of servants!" all three of them looked at Emil. "Atlas, son of Jupiter!" however, upon silence, the British man shrugged, "Well, that's that, I think. Anything else, lads?"

"You want to get rid of him?" asked Francis again, now more exasperated.

"Remark that I might just as well have been in his shoes and he in mine," continued Arthur, deep in thought. "If chance had not willed otherwise. To each one his due."

Francis then chose to spoke strangely in hopes of this time capturing Arthur's attention. However, it resulted in a bit of a gargling sound, "You waagerrim?!"

Arthur stared at the Frenchman, "I _beg_ your pardon?"

Francis sighed in relief at finally being paid attention to. He then inquired correctly, "You want to get rid of him?"

"I do," sniffed Arthur. "But instead of driving him away as I might have done, I mean instead of simply kicking him out on his arse, in the goodness of my heart, I am bringing him to the fair, where I hope to get a good price for him. The truth is, you can't drive such away. The best thing would be to kill them."

Upon hearing this however, Emil gave a sniff, then, much to the shock of Francis and Gilbert, the young man started crying. Tears dropped from his violet eyes as he softly wept.

Gilbert blinked, "Hey! He's crying!"

"Old dogs have more dignity," said Arthur coldly. However, he pulled out his emerald green handkerchief, and offered it to Gilbert, "Comfort him, since you pity him." Upon seeing the Prussian man hesitate, Arthur urged, "Come on."

Gilbert then gave a frown as he stretched his arm out, this time, taking the green handkerchief and turned to face Emil.

"Wipe away his tears," said Arthur. "He'll feel less forsaken."

However, upon catching sight of the weeping young man again, Gilbert chose to hesitate as he stared. This prompted Francis to roll his baby blues as he came towards Gilbert, "Here, give it to me, _mon cher_. I'll do it."

Despite that, Gilbert refused to give the handkerchief to him. Naturally, this prompted the both of them to engage in rather childish slap-like fight between them. Arthur rolled his eyes as he spoke up, "Better make haste before he stops."

Gilbert then approached Emil and stretched his arm out with the handkerchief; ready to wipe at the young man's pretty eyes. However, the reaction he received was far from expected.

Emil suddenly shot his foot out and kicked Gilbert violently in the shins. This caused the Prussian man to let loose a huge shriek of pain and drop the handkerchief. He recoiled and staggered about as he howled.

"Hanky!" cried Arthur.

Emil then put down the bag and basket, picked up the handkerchief, gave it to Arthur, went back to his place and finally picked up the bag and basket.

"Oh, the little unawesome swine!" hissed Gilbert. He pulled up his trouser leg and screeched, "He's crippled the awesome me!"

"I told you he didn't like strangers," sighed Arthur as he gave a shrug.

Francis rolled his eyes, knowing that Gilbert was rather over-dramatic at times, "Show me, _mon ami_." However, upon looking at Gilbert's leg, he saw that there was an ugly bruise already forming on his pale skin. There was also drops of crimson that were running down his pale leg. This time, Gilbert had the right to be over-dramatic. Francis yelled angrily at Arthur as he motioned at his Prussian friend's leg, "He's _bleeding_!"

Arthur peered at Gilbert's wound, "So he is. It's a good sign."

Gilbert shouted as he balanced on one leg, "I'll never walk again!"

Francis then said tenderly, "I'll carry you, _mon ami_." He then paused when both Gilbert and Arthur gave him an odd look, "If necessary."

* * *

Arthur groaned and clutched at his head, "I can't bear it…any longer…the way he goes on…you've no idea! It's terrible…he must go…" he waved his arms. "I'm going mad…" the British man then collapsed with his head being clutched in his hands, "…I can't…I can't bear it…any longer…"

Francis and Gilbert simply stared down at Arthur as he continued mumbling and grumbling.

"He can't bear it," echoed Francis.

"Any longer," spoke up Gilbert.

"_Mon cher _is going mad," observed Francis.

Gilbert shook his head, "It's terrible."

Francis the rounded on Emil, his baby blues blazing flames, "How _dare_ you! It's abominable! Such a good master! Crucify him like that! After so many years! Really!"

Suddenly, Arthur started sobbing in his position, "He used to be so kind…so helpful…and entertaining…my good angel…and now…he's killing me."

Gilbert then asked Francis, "Does he want to replace him?"

"_Quoi_?"

"Does he want someone to take his place or not," asked Gilbert more deeply.

Francis shook his head, "I don't think so."

"What?"

The Frenchman shrugged, "I don't know."

Gilbert rolled his red eyes, "Ask him."

* * *

"Nothing happens," sighed Gilbert. "Nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful!"

Francis then lit up with an idea. He then tapped Arthur and motioned to Emil, "Tell him to think."

"Give him his hat," responded the British man curtly.

"His hat?" the Frenchman arched an elegant eyebrow curiously.

"He can't think without his hat," explained Arthur.

Francis then nudged Gilbert and pointed at Emil, "Give him his hat."

"The awesome me?!" Gilbert shouted. "After what that little swine did to me?! Never!"

Francis sighed, "Fine, then _I'll _give it to him."

Gilbert however stopped him and said to Arthur as he pointed at Emil, "Tell him to go and fetch it."

Arthur shrugged, "It's better to give it to him."

Francis repeated, more determinedly, "_I'll _give it to him." He then picked up the hat, and at arm's length (since Gilbert was unfortunate the first time at close contact), handed it to Emil. However, the young man did not move.

"You must put it on his head, first," said Arthur.

Gilbert spoke up, "Then tell him to take it!"

"I'll put it on his head," said Francis bravely. He went around behind Emil, approached him with extreme caution, then finally put the hat on his head. The Frenchman jumped back smartly before the young man could react and possibly kick him. However, Emil didn't move.

He stayed silent.

"What's he waiting for?" Gilbert asked impatiently.

"Stand back!" announced Arthur. Francis and Gilbert immediately moved away from Emil as Arthur came forward and jerked the rope. Emil then looked at the British man, "Think!"

There was a ringing silence.

However, much to Francis' and Gilbert's collective shock, the young man began to speak; his voice was slightly raspy, but it was clear to hear. "On the other hand," said Emil. "With regard to-"

"Stop, stop!" called Arthur. Emil immediately stopped while Arthur motioned, "Back!" Emil moved back, prompting the British man to call, "Stop!" Emil then followed his order as Arthur spoke, "Turn!" once the young man did so, the British man the called, "Think!"

Suddenly, much to Francis and Gilbert's shock, Emil started talking again, however upon listening to his talk, it quickly formed into garble and breathless ranting, causing the two men to give startled protests. Arthur meanwhile looked both dejected and disgusted.

* * *

**_A/N: _**_Up next is the monologue that Emil will spew out (Lucky's monologue), however, it's all garbled nonsense, so just skip it by going to the next A/N. You can read it if you want, but you don't have to. I commend you if you do, however._

* * *

"Given the existence as spoken forth in the public works of Pincher and Wattmann of a personal God with white beard outside time without extension who from the heights of divine apathia divine athambia divine aphasia loves us dearly with some exceptions for reasons unknown but time will tell and suffers like the divine Miranda with those who for reasons unknown but time will tell are plunged in torment plunged in fire whose fire flames if that continues and who can doubt it will fire the firmament that is to say blast hell to haven so blue still and calm so calm with a calm which even though intermittent is better than nothing but not so fast and considering what is more that as a result of the labours left unfinished crowned by the Aca-aca-aca-acadmey of anthropo-po-po-pometry of Essy-in-Possy of Testew and Cunard it is established beyond all doubt all other doubt than that which clings to the labours of men that as a result of the labours unfinished of Testew and Cunnard it is established as hereinafter but not so fast for reasons unknown that as a result of the public works of Puncher and Wattmann it is established beyond all doubt that in view of the labours of Fartov and Belcher left unfinished for reasons unknown of Testew and Cunard left unfinished is is established what many deny that man in Possy of TEstew and Cunard that man in Essy that man in short that man in brief in spite of the strides of alimentation and defecation wastes and pines wastes and pines and concurrently simultaneously what is more for reasons unknown in spite of the strides of physical culture the practice of sports such as tennis football running cycling swimming flying floating riding gliding conating camogie skating tennis of all kinds dying flying spots of all sorts autumn summer winter tennis of all kinds hockey of all sorts penicillin and succedanea in a word I resume flying gliding golf over nine and eighteen holes tennis of all sorts in a word for reasons unknown in Feckham Peckham Fulham Clapham namely concurrently simultaneously what is more for reasons unknown but time will tell fades away I resume Fulham Clapham in a word the dead loss per head since the death of Bishop Berkeley being to the tune of one inch four ounce per head approximately by and large more or less to the nearest decimal good measure round figures stark naked in the stockinged feet in Connemara in a word for reasons unknown no matter what matter the facts are there and considering what is more much more grave that in the light of the labours lost of Steinweg and Peterman it appears what is more much more grave that in the light the light the light of the labours lost of Steinweg and Peterman that in the plains in the mountains by the seas by the rivers running water running fire the air is the same and then the earth namely the air and then the earth in the grea cold the great dark the air and the earth abode of stones in the great cold alas in the year of their Lord six hundred and something the air the earth the sea the earth abode of stones in the great deeps the great cold on sea on land and in the air I resume for reasons unknown in spite of the tennis the facts are there but time will tell I resume alas on in short in fine on abode of stones who can doubt it I resume but not so fast I resume the skull fading-fading-fading and concurrently simultaneously what is more for reasons unknown in spite of the tennis on the beard the flames the tears the stones so blue so calm alas-alas on-on the skull the skull the skull the skull in Connemara in spite of the tennis the labours abandoned left unfinished graver still abode of stones in a word I resume alas-alas abandoned unfinished the skull the skull in Connemara in spite of the tennis the skull alas the stones Cunnard…"

* * *

**_A/N: _**_End of Emil's Lucky rant. If you actually read it, then you deserve cookies covered in maple syrup._

* * *

When Emil didn't pay attention to both Francis and Gilbert making violent protests, Arthur jumped up and pulled on the rope. Giving a cry, Emil pulled on the rope and staggered, causing all three of the older men to throw themselves on the young man who simply struggled and kept shouting in panicked fever.

"Tennis…the stones…so calm…Cunnard…unfinished…where is my face…?!"

"His hat!" cried Arthur.

Taking quick action, Francis seized the young man's hat, immediately prompting silence from Emil. The young man instantly collapsed over with his violet eyes rolling slightly back in his head – clearly exhausted and drained from his great tirade. The three men however were panting from their little victory of taming Emil's rant.

"Avenged!" Gilbert roared in triumph as he raised his fists up in the air. Francis meanwhile examined Emil's discarded hat curiously, peering inside of it.

"Give me _that_!" Arthur angrily snatched Emil's hat from the Frenchman, threw it to the ground and trampled on it. "There! There's an end to his thinking!"

"But…will he be able to walk?" questioned Francis, a little worried now.

"Walk or crawl!" Arthur poked Emil's side. "Up you get!"

"Perhaps he's dead," suggested Gilbert nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders.

* * *

_And that ends **Waiting For Ivan** - basically, in the rest of the story, Francis and Gilbert continue waiting for Ivan, and they meet up with Arthur and Emil again. Only this time, Arthur is actually blind, so he depends on Emil to guide him. When Arthur leaves the pair of them again, Francis and Gilbert decide to maybe go if Ivan doesn't come, however, they end up staying around anyway._

_The point of the play is for it to mean nothing and be random. However, many have deducted that the play is actually an allegory of pointlessness. It's certainly plausible._

_Thoughts and opinions if you like - have a lovely day! :DDD_

_Sincerely,  
HetaWriter/HetaReader_

_P.S: I might change my Author name. ^_^'_


	6. Soda Tongue: You Deserve To Be Heard!

_And more random pieces, but this time, it's a different story idea. This was a Friendship/Romance human AU that takes place in the American high school setting. It also explores more on a little friendship group I like portraying a bit as seen in **Once Upon a Time** (though there's Nyotalia and it includes Nyo!Seychelles XD)_

_Anyway, BIG thanks goes to **pein21 **for the fave; **Hope n' Faith **for the follow; and finally **Ayumi Kudou **for the review! 8D_

**_Ayumi Kudou:_**_ Have you played The Walking Dead: 400 Days? Though it was short, I really liked it. :D (my favourite is definitely Vince, =^w^= even though he didn't join me first time...TT7TT). I'm also looking forward to Season 2 of The Walking Dead if Tavia is our protagonist - she looks interesting, and the concept of the sanctuary and her job is interesting, too. :) at first, I was unsure of what to think of Ellie - because she seemed a bit "outlandishly hardcore" for me, but she grew on me so quickly and it made sense as she explained she was at boot-camp before, and by the time I was up to Bill, I loved her. XD RPG horror games are interesting only if the plot is interesting, otherwise I'm going to get bored of it. (E.g. I've seen FAR too many HetaOni ripoff's on DA, same with Corpse Party related games with Hetalia). I have a friend however that is in the process of making a sci-fi dystopia Hetalia game, and has also told me she's working on a second one that involves the Hetalia characters and the Chinese Zodiac (though it's also a human AU set near an American high school), which, I must admit - intrigues me a lot (probably because half of me is of Chinese heritage =^w^=). AU's are actually my speciality of mine - almost all of my stories are AU's. XD_

_Because I needed a bunch of characters, I included Nyotalia and 2Ptalia. XD list of characters:  
- Im Yong Soo [South Korea]  
- Chun-Yan [Nyo!China]  
- Antonio Fernandez Carriedo [Spain]  
- Gilbert Beilschmidt [Prussia]  
- Francis Bonnefoy [France]  
- Lovino Vargas [Romano/South Italy]  
__- __Mr Morgan [Cameroon]  
- Madeleine Williams [Nyo!Canada]  
- Mitchell Mancham [Nyo!Seychelles]  
- Anya Braginskaya [Nyo!Russia]  
- Mr Zwingli [Switzerland]  
- Alfred F Jones [America]  
__- Marianne [2P!Nyo!France]  
__- Mr Carlos Machado [Cuba]  
- Natalya Arlovskaya [Belarus]  
- Kai [Nyo!Taiwan]  
- Elizaveta [Hungary]  
- Eduard von Bock [Estonia]_

_Piece of info about piece:_

**_Piece Title:_**_ Soda Tongue [You Deserve To Be Heard!]  
**Chapter No.: **1  
**Rating:** T (swearing)  
__**Warning: **Human AU, Nyotalia, 2Ptalia  
__**Pairing/s: **N/A  
__**Chapter Summary: **Coming into a school where sports is placed above the creative arts (e.g. music and art), a band of five misfits may be the answer to this oppression.**  
**__**Inspiration/s: **Lemonade Mouth__**  
**_

_Yes, when I wrote "Lemonade Mouth" I actually mean the Disney Channel movie. Personally, I think EVERY Disney Channel show nowadays is absolute garbage that promotes materialism and dating, which isn't good at all. I watch Disney Channel simply because my cousins are young, and I'm always the one who watches them, so they watch it on my cable, and I tend to laugh at how stupid and shallow most of the new stuff is. The thing is, some of the Disney Channel movies don't suck__ - the ones that are worthy of watching that I can think of are: Halloweentown (just for amusement and it's about witches), Hocus Pocus (again, about witches and it had Bette Midler 8D), The Thirteenth Year (a bit of an allegory to puberty and acceptance of that stage), Smart House (a house run by an AI wants to be a mother for the family who lives in her), Don't Look Under the Bed (imagination is beautiful, however it also stimulates fear and can be dangerous; also, don't forget your childhood), Pixel Perfect (what is human? Also, don't sell out if you want to be big - just be yourself), Lemonade Mouth (creative stimulation such as music, art and acting are just as important as sports; also, everyone should have the chance to be heard and express themselves), and Den Brother (place your family over yourself, and swallow your pride). - Take note, MOST of these movies (except the last two, are from the 1990's to early 2000's). I am aware though that there is a book on Lemonade Mouth, and I'm interested in reading it, so I'll probably do it when I find time and Google it or something._

_Before I can go off a tangent and rant on why I hate the new Disney channel, just please read on...TTnTT_

* * *

"Yong Soo!" a woman with her hair tied up into two buns poked her head from the doorway into a rather messy room. "Yong Soo!" she shouted, trying to become louder than the blaring guitar strums that were reverberating throughout the slightly messy room. "Yong Soo!"

The boy who she was calling to was stuck in his own thoughts it seemed as he was banging his head around a bit while strumming in an amazingly rapid and co-ordinated fashion over the series of strings of his black and white electric guitar. His eyes were shut, too, and a curl that was sticking out from his right was dancing about in the hair as he rocked around.

"_Yong Soo_!"

The boy, Yong Soo, finally stopped and his eyes shot open, revealing curious light brown orbs. "Eh? Oh, _ahn nyeong_, mama," he beamed.

"Yong Soo, have you already packed, aru? You don't want to be late on your first day of school, right?"

The Korean boy simply laughed, "Yeah, I packed. Don't worry about me, da ze!"

"Then stop fooling around, and let's go already."

Yong Soo simply gave a hum, disregarding his mother's somewhat snappish tone – she was always irritated with work, so he couldn't blame her. Whistling a familiar tune, he unplugged his guitar from the amp and tenderly placed it into a leather case that had several stickers stuck on its surface providing a myriad of exploding colours. One sticker appeared to be that of the South Korean flag.

Then after checking his watch, he grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder as he followed his mother into the white car.

'_I wonder what it'll be like?' _he wondered to himself as he laid back in the seat and peered through the window at the street that was progressively starting to rise from its slumber. _'Hopefully something amazing will happen.'_

* * *

"_Hola_, Gilbert!" a young man with wavy dark brown hair and glistening green eyes ran up to a pale young man with silver hair who was exiting his red car.

The youth smiled as he locked his car and casually twirled his keys, "Hey, Toni, s'up, man?"

The Spanish boy, Antonio, gave a big smile as he rubbed the back of his head, "Everything's going great! How about you?"

"Doing just awesomely as always," Gilbert grinned, his crimson red eyes flashing, giving him a rather mischievous appearance.

"Speaking of awesomeness again as usual, _mon ami_? Well, awesomeness _has_ just arrived after all," a voice spoke up. Gilbert and Antonio turned around and were met face-to-face with the remainder of their trio.

Francis, a student of French blood, smiled, his golden hair tied up into a high ponytail, and his blue eyes twinkling in the sun's rays. "_Bonjour_, my friends," he greeted merrily.

Gilbert gave a loud laugh, "Hey, we're _all _awesome here! We're the Bad Touch Trio after all! We're just _made _of sheer awesomeness! More or so, me, though," he added as an afterthought.

"Are you sure about that, _mi amigo_?" Antonio gave a laugh. "I think I'm quite awesome myself."

"When it comes to being the awesomest here, Ican't be beaten!" Gilbert said proudly, puffing his chest out. He beat at it with a fist, and then he slung his arms around his two best friends' shoulders. "Yup! When it comes to awesomeness, nobody radiates it as much as Ido!"

"And nobody gets into trouble more than you, either, _mon cher_," Francis teased, as Antonio gave a snicker.

Gilbert gave a laugh, "What are you talking about? The awesome me didn't get in trouble at all this past week!"

"Past week, huh?" Antonio arched an eyebrow and scratched his head. "Wow! For you, that's quite a record! You really didn't do anything at all that would land you in detention for the past week?"

"Nope!" Gilbert gave a smug smirk at the look of awe on his Spanish friend's face and patted Antonio's head. "But I do miss causing a stir." He gave a sigh, "Man, this damn school is so fucking boring without anything going on…totally _not _awesome. Maybe I should do something, now," he began to ponder. "Maybe I'll do something later."

Francis patted Gilbert's back again, "Ah, Gilbert…_mon ami en difficulté_. Now, shall we go in before we get late, _mes amis_?" he then slung an arm around Gilbert's shoulder.

"_Sí_!" Antonio agreed, also slinging an arm, this time around Gilbert's other shoulder. "Let's go!"

"Oh hells yeah!" Gilbert called. "Grand World High better watch out! The group of sheer awesomeness, the Bad Touch Trio is coming in!"

However, just as the three friends made their grand way up the stairs, past the bustling mix of teachers and students who were also trying to get into the school, a young man reading a black book nearby all of a sudden stuck his leg out in Francis' path.

As a result, the French student, with a shocked gasp, tripped over the leg and in order to keep his balance, he clung onto Gilbert's neck. Gilbert, unfortunately also lost his balance due to the sudden movement, and as a domino affect, fell over and grabbed at Antonio for support. Poor Antonio was a bit shorter than Gilbert and much lighter (plus Francis was also on the silver-haired student adding extra weight), so as a result, the trio toppled over unceremoniously after a loud yelp. Antonio grabbed the closest thing nearby so he could support himself before he could fall. Sadly, the thing he grabbed seemed to be much lighter than he was as it gave a shriek and fell with him.

A snicker was heard and Gilbert looked up in time to see a blonde walk off with a black book. "Wankers," the blonde said loudly as he left.

"Son of a fucking bitch!" Gilbert seethed as he shook his fist in the direction of the blonde haired culprit. "_So _not awesome! That was a cheap shot!"

Francis groaned as he stood up and dusted himself off. "_Mon dieu_…that is an experience that I hope I will _never_ encounter again! Thank you, _mon ami_…" he looked down at Gilbert who was still madly shaking a fist and loudly cursing at the culprit.

The silver-haired student gave an exasperated sigh once the figure had left and nodded in Francis' direction. "Hey, no probs, Francy-pants!" he began looking around frantically, realizing something, or rather _someone _was missing. "Hey, hold on…where's Toni?"

"_Ay_…" a whimper was heard from underneath Gilbert. Looking down, Gilbert saw that he was right on top of the Spanish student, crushing him. "_Mein Gott_! You alright there, Toni!" Gilbert immediately shot up and pulled Antonio up, however, there was another mass that was crumpled underneath the Spanish boy. "The fuck-?"

Francis came closer to inspect, and Antonio snapped out of his daze when he caught sight of the figure that he and his friends apparently crushed. A great silence hung in the air.

"LOVI!" Antonio squealed picking up the figure straight away and practically started squeezing the life out of him. "OH NO, LOVI! SPEAK TO ME! I'M SO SORRY, _MI TOMATE_!"

The poor victim, an Italian boy with a curl protruding from his right, suddenly shook his head, snarled at Antonio, and mercilessly shoved him off. "Get the hell off of me, you bastard!" he snapped. Before Antonio could answer to the blunt response, the bell gave a loud ring, causing the Italian to shriek again, "Shit! Chigi! I'll be late!" he sped off like a cheetah.

"Aw Lovi~!" Antonio whined, greatly disappointed. "He ran off…"

"Like a true Italian," Francis sighed, fixing his ponytail. "_Mon dieu_, my hair is messed up. Ugh…"

"Yeah, well, come on! You guys heard the bell; time to get to homeroom before we get screwed over!" Gilbert linked arms with his friends and they all rushed off into the school. Unfortunately, they bumped into a large figure. "What the hell?" Gilbert snapped. "Who dares interrupt our awesomeness?!"

"I dare do," a voice said disdainfully.

"Eep!" Antonio gave a squeak when the eyes of the principal locked onto him.

The Principal himself, Mr Morgan, stood before the trio's eyes. Mr Morgan was tall, looming and had dark skin with his dark brown hair in a buzz cut. He wore glasses and appeared to have some sort of cross-shaped (Gilbert claims) bald spot on the side of his head. Gilbert disliked him a lot; the man was totally not awesome and disregarded music, a subject that Gilbert loved the most. The reaction amongst the trio was quite varied; Francis looked neutral, Antonio was uneasy and Gilbert was glaring at him.

"And just what exactly are you three doing?" Mr. Morgan said coolly, riding on a scooter, much to the trio's surprise. "Why aren't you in Homeroom?"

"We were on our way, sir," Francis spoke up, noticing the death glare that Gilbert was giving the man; he didn't want anyone to get in trouble. "We're on our way! Come on _mes amis_! Let's go to homeroom!" Antonio clung tightly onto Gilbert's arm; the Principal really gave him the creeps. "_S-Sí_…let's go…come on Gil…"

"_Gerne_," Gilbert snorted.

* * *

**_A/N: _**_Some shenanigans happen with the BTT that involves Gilbert accidentally stink-bombing a locker that invokes the wrath of Dracul Dalca, the exchange student from Romania, who then promptly curses him, but stops upon seeing Elizaveta mocking him. Gilbert then teases her, too, so Dracul just laughs and stops his curse. Francis then teases Gilbert about Elizaveta, while Yong Soo is called into the Principal's office with his mother in regards to his shirt and a slogan it reads..._

* * *

"I'm afraid that shirt is—" Mr Morgan began.

"Huh? What about my shirt?" Yong Soo asked, stretching out his shirt, reading the slogan on it. It was a bright orange red one with the words, _"Question f******* authority, step on it!" _in big capitalized letters of black font.

"You shouldn't be wearing that shirt, Mr Im."

"Why not?" Yong Soo questioned, arching an eyebrow.

Likewise, his mother inquired, "Is there some sort of dress code? We were never aware of that…"

"That shirt's slogan is crossing the line, Mr Im," Mr Morgan explained, unamused.

Yong Soo scowled, "What about freedom of expression and speech?"

Before Mr Morgan could say anything in response, Chun-Yan immediately discarded the black jacket she was wearing. "Yong Soo, just take my jacket," she gave Yong Soo a side glance at the Principal then back at him, flashing a look as if to say _'don't push it!'_

Yong Soo heaved a sigh, but took his mother's jacket and slipped it on. However, the jacket was clinging to him a bit too tightly and the sleeves slightly didn't reach up to his wrists. He winced a bit, _'Well…at least it doesn't look like a girly jacket…'_

Mr Morgan chose to speak again. "This will be your first _and_ last warning of what to wear, Mr Im. Students respect the rules." Mr Morgan said in a deathly calm voice as he stood up and inspected the various sports trophies and education certificates around the office. Two pairs of eyes followed him. "Written _and_ unwritten."

He suddenly froze in his spot.

The pair followed his gaze and saw in the security screens two figures running off to somewhere quite hurriedly. The two figures suddenly turned around briefly, which Mr Morgan chose to pause.

Yong Soo and his mother took a closer look at the paused screen and saw the faces of the two figures much more clearly.

There was a girl with her blonde hair tied into two pigtails and had a beret perched atop her head that was the same colours as her red jacket. A worried expression was etched on her face; clearly seen in her violet eyes that were behind clear glasses. The other was a boy who had blonde hair with a strange cowlick and wearing glasses. He also had a rather pissed off expression on his face, and was holding a leather jacket with a huge stain and a shirt that was designed to look like the flag of the USA as well as tight denim jeans.

Yong Soo couldn't help but give a snort as he gazed at the pair who were in the empty hallway, _'Students respect the rules, huh? My ass, da ze!'_

* * *

"Please, don't call my parents!" Madeleine pleaded, now scared. She was caught along with her brother, Alfred, but she was demanded to come into the Principal's Office first. "I-I know that it's wrong to skip classes, but Alfred _really _needed help to get the hamburger and coke stain out of his jacket, so he got me to help him."

Mr Morgan tilted his head, "This is your first infraction, right?'

Madeleine nodded her head vigorously, her hands clasped together in her lap while her heart beat at a rapid speed.

Mr Morgan then peered more closely into Madeleine's face and realized who he was talking to. "Wait, you're Madeleine Williams. Alfred's sister and an honours student."

Madeleine nodded again, heart thumping in her chest. She anxiously watched the Principal's hand on the phone, and grew relieved when the man finally took it off.

"I'm not going to call your parents," Mr Morgan said slowly.

"Thank you," Madeleine sighed in relief.

"_This_ time."

Madeleine looked back at the man, who was now scrawling something down. "But if I _ever_ catch you skipping classes ever again…"

"You won't, I promise," Madeleine cut in as she was handed a detention slip.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the junior's History class, Mitchell was flicking through his textbook, feeling extremely bored by the presenters at the front. He blew off some strands of stray hair that fell in his eyes.

All of a sudden, Anya nudged him with her elbow. Mitchell looked over at his Russian friend and saw that she was giving a pointed glance downwards, secretive smile plastered on her face. Mitchell looked down and saw that Anya was offering him some candy. The Seychellois boy was ecstatic; it was some _"Grand Prix"_ chocolate. He eagerly took one from Anya, glanced around to see if the teacher was looking and popped it into his mouth, grinning from ear-to-ear as the sweetness spread out onto his tongue and danced.

Anya smiled softly; she knew that Mitchell loved sweet things; this piece of chocolate was just one of the several things that were on Mitchell's list of delicious foods. Gazing down at the bag of sweets, she felt very content and warm seeing her best friend in such a happy state.

Mitchell always loved these sweets; Anya first gave him one years ago when they were younger. They were dark chocolates with hazelnut cream and milk cream filling inside as well as a whole hazelnut in the middle.

By the time he finished eating his candy, there was a lovely feeling in his tummy and Mr Zwingli chose to speak as the presenters at the front were finished. Mr Zwingli was rather young, but he was _very_ strict. He had blonde hair in a sort of bob-cut, and very stern dark green eyes that glared. "Very good. Alright; Mitchell Mancham, Anya Braginskaya," he announced. "You're both up."

The two juniors stood up from their spots, Anya was fixing her papers, which were in a lavender folder with white sunflower prints and inspected the notes carefully while Mitchell picked up his blue, fish folder and peered inside it to get his notes.

Except they weren't his notes.

In fact, they weren't even notes.

"_Mikhail_?" Anya asked, now at the front. Said Seychellois boy was staring wide-eyed with a dumbfounded expression on his face as he peered down at what was inside of his folder. The Russian immediately rushed over to her friend's side to see what the problem was.

"Photos? Who is that?" Anya picked one up and found herself staring at a woman wearing a rather regal dress, however the next one showed her in a rather…skimpy sort of swimwear. The Russian felt her cheeks go pink, "Ahem…"

Mitchell was hoping that all of this was just one sick nightmare. Especially when he heard someone shout, _"I knew that Mitchell wasn't so innocent!"_ Laughs exploded around the classroom as Mitchell shook his head and upended his bag, now desperate. "No, no, no, no, no…" he moaned as he fumbled through his possessions, which consisted of a dolphin diary, his lunch box, and a few other books that had various underwater creatures on it. "This can't be happening…this can't be happening…"

Anya now chose that time to glare at the students who were still snickering, sweet smile still plastered on her face. "_Kolkolkolkol_…" Once the laughter died, the Russian put made him look at her by placing a hand on his cheek. "Don't worry, we'll think of something, _da_?"

"What the hell are we going to do?! I screwed up our project—"

"_Nyet_,you did not screw up our project. I still have _my_ notes; we can use those and you remember some of yours, _da_?"

"Not all of it!"

"Better than nothing. _Da_, we can still do it!"

Just as Mitchell was feeling better by his friend's encouragement, a new voice spoke up, "_Bonjour_, I am sorry to interrupt."

Everyone looked to the door and Mitchell wanted to evaporate from the spot: Marianne stood there with an embarrassed smile on her face and she was holding up a stack of papers. The French woman gave Mitchell an apologetic look, "Mitchell, I have your folder, sweetie. Sorry…"

"Wow, check out Mitchell's mommy," one student said, wolf whistling.

Mr Zwingli gave a stern stare at the student who spoke and gave a polite nod to the woman opposite him, "You must be Mitchell's mother."

Before Marianne could respond to Mr Zwingli's greeting, Mitchell seemed to have snapped. "She is _not_ my mother!" he shrieked. "I mean, are you crazy?! _Look_ at are! You must be stupid and blind to think so!"

Though Anya was greatly surprised (and amused) at her friend's sudden outburst, she knew it had to stop before Mitchell got into even more trouble, as Mr Zwingli's nostrils were now flaring and steam was practically flying out of his ears. The Russian smacked the Seychellois boy in the back; so hard, that it caused Mitchell to stumble on his words and finally stop as he almost fell over.

Unfortunately, upon realizing what he said in his mini rant, Mitchell felt his face heat up and he covered it with his hands. Anya patted his head, smile still on her face.

"You are screwed, _da_?"

* * *

"Yo, Maddie!" Alfred called to his sister, running up to her. "You okay?"

"No," sighed Madeleine as she showed the slip of paper that Mr Morgan had handed to her. "I got detention, but…at least we'll be together, right?" however, seeing the look on her brother's face made Madeleine's stomach turn over. "R-right…?"

"Nah, actually, Maddie," Alfred rubbed the back of his head as he explained. "He let me off with a warning."

Madeleine arched an eyebrow, "A…warning?"

"Yeah," Alfred nodded, now smiling. "I've got basketball practice and the game's coming up, so I can't miss one at all!"

Madeleine said nothing as she gazed at the slip of paper in her hands, feeling rather small at that position. Her hearing became fuzzy but she was able to pick up the last thing that Alfred said to him.

"See you, later, okay, Maddie?"

"Yeah…" Madeleine mumbled. Once her brother left, she gave an exasperated sigh as she pocketed her detention slip into the pocket of her jacket. "I can't believe this…"

Meanwhile, a distance a bit off from where Alfred was heading off to, Mr Morgan was on his scooter again, this time, being chased down the corridor by an angry, heavyset man with dreadlocks in a high ponytail and dark eyes wearing a floral print shirt, shorts and sandals.

"What do you want, Carlos?" Mr Morgan huffed, getting annoyed at being followed.

"That you put the same value on the arts as you do sports!" Carlos Machado, the Cuban music teacher, snapped in response, still pursuing him. "You cut the music budget to freaking zero; you moved my classroom down to the damn basement and for what?! _Another_ damn gymnasium!"

At this, Mr Morgan stopped his scooter and decided to do wheelies around the Cuban man. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! This is not _another "damn"_ gymnasium," he clarified. "Sports bring donors, donors bring money, and money makes my school run."

Carlos felt his eye twitch, "_Your_ school?"

Mr Morgan stopped and faced him, "Times are tough, Carlos. Someone has to make the tough decisions around here and obviously, that person is me." With that, he rode off, leaving an outraged Carlos in wake.

The Cuban man gave a huff and stormed away, shoving Alfred and his friends in the process while yelling, "Out of the way, Mr Jones or I'll give you a freaking detention!"

* * *

"'_Fair is foul, and foul is fair,'_" Natalya read aloud and kept going on, getting absorbed into the new text. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but the mood was kind of chilly and she began to grow curious as to what would happen next – she was into that kind of thing. She chomped on her apple as she continued, but bumped a bunch of brooms and mops, shrieking in pain along the way.

That was when the door opened, revealing a slip of paper.

"Huh?" Natalya took the piece of paper and peered at it, her face immediately scrunched up in outrage as she dangerously crumpled the paper in her tight fist. "_Detention_?!"

* * *

In the basketball courts, Madeleine sat at the bleachers, watching her brother practice with his friend. Alfred's friend, Kai, was a Taiwanese boy with short, dark hair that had a massive looking curl and brown eyes. They were currently shooting hoops and getting them in with succession.

Madeleine didn't know how long her brother and Kai were shooting hoops, but she soon grew bored at watching only successive shots and began taking out his lunch, which consisted of three pancakes. She pulled out a bottle of maple syrup that she always kept inside her bag and began pouring it on the treat, licking her lips. She looked up and noticed an Asian boy sit somewhere off from her and pull out a book, titled _"Macbeth."_

As Madeleine ate and watched both her brother and the Asian boy, she was unaware that she herself was being watched.

Lovino stopped walking around the courts like a tiger on the prowl and had watched Alfred and Kai shooting hoops in succession. This caused the Italian to roll his eyes, _'Show offie bastards…'_ he then noticed something out of the corner of his eye and looked, surprised to see that there was a female version of Alfred sitting there.

How long that female Alfred was there remained a mystery to Lovino, but he couldn't help but become curious when the female Alfred took out a container with some pancakes in them. Then she took out a bottle of maple syrup.

'_Who the fuck keeps a bottle of maple syrup with them?' _Lovino thought to himself, surprised as the female Alfred began pouring the contents of the sweet treat on her food, face resembling that of his younger brother near pasta. The longer he looked at her, the girl looked less and less like some female Alfred and more like just a girl in the Italian's opinion. Softer and friendlier. Lovino scratched his head, pondering if the two were siblings, even twins, and noticed an Asian boy sitting a bit off from her.

Lovino himself didn't even understand the stupid play that the Asian boy was reading because it was just too damn depressing in his opinion. Crap, now _"Othello"_ was back in his head. He gave a groan as he remembered he had English homework due when something collided into his stomach.

"Hey, Lovino! What's the matter?" Alfred shouted, flashing him that stupid grin. Kai laughed as Lovino death glared at the two.

"Hey Al, cut it out, will you?" though it was quiet, Lovino heard the soft scold that came from the female Alfred, however, Alfred and Kai either ignored or (in Lovino's opinion) were too stupid and wrapped in their own crap to realize that the soft girl had even spoken. The Asian boy looked up from his reading to examine what just happened and Lovino immediately turned away with a red face, refusing to look weak in front of both of them.

"Going, keep it going!" the coach shouted. "Come on, Vargas! Keep up with the program!"

Chucking the ball back at Alfred, Lovino was inwardly cursing to his heart's content and tried to defend against a boy who had another basketball. However, since Lovino was much shorter than the other guy, he ended up getting bumped by the larger male and fell back onto his butt. The Italian gritted his teeth as pain shot up his rear when he slowly stood up again.

"Alright!" the coach shouted, noticing Lovino's lacklustre performance. "We'll try drill two! Shooting! In line now!"

Lovino begrudgingly went into the line as everyone before him was shooting in rapid succession. His eye twitched, _'What the fuck is wrong with these damn bastards? Are they like fucking super-humans or something?' _When it came to his turn, he tried to shoot it in, pretending that the hoop was a _certain_ Spaniard's head, but it never went in. Sure, it hit the hoop really hard, but the ball didn't go through either.

The coach then nudged Alfred and pointed at Lovino. "Is that seriously Romulus Vargas' grandson?" he questioned the blonde.

Alfred nodded, "Yup! That's Lovino Vargas, he's the oldest."

The coach then quirked an eyebrow, "Really? He ain't anything at all like his grandfather…"

"Hey, Lovino!" the Italian felt his ears bleed when the Taiwanese boy called for him. "You're supposed to pass the ball like _this_!" he chucked the ball right at him. Before Lovino could process what was happening and react properly, he was hit at the back of his head.

Hearing the laughter that followed, Lovino had had enough. He was sick and tired of them egging him on and wanted to desperately strangle the life out of them. "CHIGI! THAT FUCKING _DOES_ IT!" he yelled, startling the Asian boy at the bleachers and scaring Madeleine who had by now finished her pancakes. "I DON'T WANNA FUCKING PLAY THIS DAMN GAME, I'M _SICK_ OF GETTING ABUSED FROM BITCHY ASSHOLES LIKE YOU BASTARDS, AND I _DEFINITELY_ DON'T _WANT_ THIS FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT OF A BALL!" with that, he chucked the basketball with all his might right at Kai, who ducked.

And as a result, the ball hit the coach at the side of his head. Because Lovino was angry and put all of his strength in that one toss, the coach fell over from the force.

Lovino froze when it played in slow motion in his mind, Madeleine was as frozen as the Italian was and Leon was surveying the scene; eyes widened slightly, though it didn't detract the seemingly stoic expression on his face. Kai began massaging the coach's back as Alfred scratched his head, "I think he did that on purpose, coach…"

The Italian's eyes almost popped out of his head, "What the hell?! No I did n—"

"LOVINO VARGAS!" the coach screamed, face murderous. Lovino almost wet himself at that look on the man's face.

"Ch-Chigi…"

* * *

Later on during the day, the whole school gathered into the huge new basketball stadium to watch a promotional video of a new sports drink called _"Turbo Booster"_. The Principal himself at the front as were the staff, including Mr Carlos Machado, the Music teacher.

Once the video was finished, the Principal spoke with a smile on his face. "Welcome to our first assembly in our new stadium generously funded by our school sponsor, Turbo Booster; drink of champions!" with that, he then took photos with the representative of the company, who was a stout, middle-aged man.

In the audience, Gilbert rolled his eyes as Francis rested his head in his hands, bored, while Antonio had a look of disgust on his face. "Yuck!" he said poking his tongue out. "I tried it before! It's _gross_."

Francis gave a laugh, "_Ohonhonhon_, I never tried it and I don't think I ever will, _mon cher_; wine and water are the only sources of drink that satisfy the palate of _moi_."

Gilbert narrowed his eyes when Mr Morgan continued his speech, "Our assembly today is about, are you ready? It's about…" too late, Gilbert's attention span was cut off and he was now looking around the audience to see if there was anything worth his attention.

Wait; there was a bunch of cheerleaders that came late. One even gave a flirtatious wink at him. Gilbert gave a devilish smirk and winked in response as the girl giggled.

They moved up and Gilbert's eyes followed; the cheerleaders were now currently confronting an Asian boy with dark brown hair and a strange curl that poked out of his head – strange because it looked like it had a face. He was young, probably a junior in his opinion, and when he turned his head, he had the biggest brown eyes that Gilbert had ever seen in his life.

The cheerleader that Gilbert flirted with from a distance cleared her throat and tapped her foot in annoyance. Yong Soo looked up and saw the group of cheerleaders towering over him. "Hi," the Asian boy said giving her a wave.

The girls gave him a look and gave snickers; assessing him too quickly. Yong Soo's smile disappeared from his face, and he scowled in response.

This time, a group of jocks then chose to come in. Madeleine noticed from her lone spot that they were trying to sit with the cheerleaders, but they were blocked off by a young man with olive skin, dark brown hair that had a long, wild curl that went to his right and the fiercest eyes that she had ever seen. She frowned slightly, trying to recall where she's seen him before, but then remembered.

He was that poor Italian boy who got roughed around by the jocks during basketball and who used foul language. He was also given a detention quite unfairly in her opinion.

"Dude, move from this seat; it's taken," one of the jocks said to him in a rather haughty manner.

Lovino glared daggers at the group, his eyes glowing with a wild fire that both startled and intrigued Madeleine. "Make me, bastard," was his response.

Despite the foul language, Madeleine couldn't help but try and conceal a small giggle to herself. She couldn't help but smile as she saw Lovino's glaring eyes were following the jocks, who merely pushed a group of kids off of a bench. "Lovino's such a fucking freak," one of them snorted.

Gilbert then noticed a girl with long, flowing brown hair, green eyes and with a flower in her hair who had come on the other side. She was whispering amongst the group of cheerleaders. He couldn't help but smirk at her. One of the cheerleaders tapped the brunette and pointed at him, giggling. The girls looked over and the girl that Gilbert was smirking at gave him a disgusted look. Gilbert's response was to give her a roguish wink. She flushed and flipped him off as a response.

"_Kesesese_…"

Upon hearing Gilbert's cackle, Francis shifted his head and saw the girl being teased by her fellow cheerleaders along with one of his best friends looking smug. Francis smirked, "_Ohonhon_, teasing Elizaveta are we, Gilbert?"

"Eh? Yeah, I love messing with her," responded Gilbert as his grin grew wider.

Francis shook his head, "No, no, _mon ami_: I think it's _more_ than that. You really like her, do you?"

"Kesese, _ja_," Gilbert still had that smile on his face as his gaze was fixed on Elizaveta who was now shaking her head and making furious gestures in his direction while looking at her friends who were trying to conceal their giggles. However, he finally realized what his French friend had said. He whipped around, "Wait, what? _Nein_! No way, _dummkopf_! Not Lizzie!"

"You say that, but I know that's it's far different to how you really feel," it was Francis' turn to be smug. "Am I right, _monsieur _Gilbert?"

* * *

**_A/N: _**_A bit more chatter between Francis and Gilbert in regards to Lizzie a.k.a Elizaveta. Yong Soo listens for a bit, but then gets shut off, but he soon gets inspired to do something and make an impression on his first day at school (especially since the people he's met are bitchy so far)._

* * *

"A student, who's willing to take risks and empower other students, and by empowering, I mean going above and beyond the norm."

During the Principal's speech, Yong Soo's listening ears chose to turn back on and his brain started to tick at the sentence the man had said. A smirk spread across his face as his attention was now at the principal; his brown eyes were sparking with enlightenment. "Want empowering students?" he asked with a sinister look in his eyes. "Then you're _gonna_ get one, da ze!"

All of a sudden, Yong Soo got up and stood onto the bench that he was sitting on. He rapidly peeled his mother's jacket off of him, revealing his rule-breaking shirt to everyone's eyes. "_MY_ SHIRT!" he called in a loud voice streamed with confidence that immediately attracted everyone's attention. "_MY_ DECISION, DA ZE!"

The Bad Touch Trio were immensely shocked at seeing the Asian boy stand up, but so was everyone else in the school.

"GOT IT?! DON'T LET YOUR SCHOOL TAKE AWAY YOUR RIGHTS!" Yong Soo shouted out, stretching his shirt a bit so people could read the slogan more clearly. "BE HEARD, DA ZE! TRY AND BE YOURSELF!" he called out, this time, more students were shouting in agreement with him. He encouraged them as he shouted again, "USE YOUR THOUGHTS! COME ON, DA ZE! THEY CAN'T TELL YOU WHAT TO WEAR! WHO TO BE! YOU CAN WEAR WHAT YOU WANT, DA ZE! WE CAN WEAR _WHATEVER_ THE HELL WE WANT BECAUSE IT'S AWESOME!"

"_Kesesese_, I like this kid," Gilbert grinned.

Yong Soo was met by thundering claps and whoops of approval, except for the cheerleaders and jocks, Madeleine noticed. Nonetheless, the shy girl joined in with the chorus of claps at what the loud Asian boy had said.

"Sit down!" the girl Gilbert was teasing from before hissed.

Yong Soo was grinning from ear-to-ear as he basked in the audience's positive reaction. "COME ON!" he continued. "I CAN WEAR WHATEVER T-SHIRT I WANT! WEAR ANY KIND I WANT FROM TODAY AND EVEN TOMORROW, DA ZE!"

* * *

**_A/N: _**_Yong Soo successfully made a riot, but he's given detention as a result instead of a suspension or expulsion because he's new (and because I'm the author). XD_

* * *

After the assembly ended, Yong Soo strolled down a corridor, feeling rather refreshed from his antic in the gymnasium. After being congratulated by a good number of students (a strange trio consisting of a Frenchman, Prussian and Spaniard had even asked him for his number and email and said they should hang out sometime), he had been brought down when he was given detention and didn't even know where to go. After being told by a rather strict-looking teacher with a bob-cut, he walked past a bunch of cheerleaders and took an elevator that led to the basement.

When he came out, he was amazed at the funky beat of music he could hear as well as the amount of people that were there, too. He was confused; were they all in detention, too?

"Oh, hello there, are you lost?" a kindly voice asked. He looked to see that the source was a boy with dark blonde hair, deep green eyes and glasses. He was carrying a metal case and had a smile on his face.

"Oh no, I'm just—" Yong Soo began, showing him his detention slip.

"Detention slip, huh?" the boy nodded. "Follow me."

With that, Yong Soo followed the kindly stranger and began to wonder if his luck was turning around; everyone he had tried to befriend was so unfriendly to him; however, ever since his rebellious antic, though he _did _get death glares from some sticklers, he gained a lot of positive feedback, too.

"What _is_ this place?" he questioned the blonde boy.

He smiled at him mysteriously, "This is the underground." He then nodded his head at a bunch of people who were sewing, "Embroidery club. Hey, Feliks, how you doing?"

A blonde wearing a pink dress shirt smiled at the pair, "Hi~!" then went back to sewing.

"Shakespeare society," Yong Soo looked through the door and saw a group of people watching two performers kiss passionately on stage. He and his guide then descended a flight of stairs. "Chess club," he continued and nodded at a boy who was sitting alone and in silence with a chess set prepared in front of him. "He hasn't had a partner in months. Ballet." Yong Soo glanced through the door's window panel and couldn't help but marvel at a young girl who was gracefully twirling around and do a lovely leap. He followed his guide as he listed more clubs. "Mathletes," some boys writing math problems on a board.

"Art club," the room was filled with paintings and sculptures, but they didn't stop to allow Yong Soo to get a proper look, "This is the Newspaper club," his guide resumed. "Hey, Raivis! You're doing great!" a blonde boy with violet blue eyes was at a printer and gave a shy smile at the compliment.

"Anything that doesn't fit Principal Morgan's mould, you'll find down here," Yong Soo's guide explained to him. He then stopped at a room where there was a television on a stand nearby. "Well, here's where I stop."

"So, Principal Morgan just puts your clubs in the basement?" Yong Soo asked, eyes widening at the thought.

"Pretty much," the boy sighed. "Unless you either wear a varsity jacket or are a part of the cheerleading squad, basically you're just…"

"Invisible," Yong Soo finished softly.

"See? You're catching on already," the blonde boy said with a sad smile. He motioned his head to his right. "Well, detention's just at the end of the hall." He then turned around and made his way to the room, but then paused and faced her again, "Oh, and by the way, my name is Eduard. Eduard von Bock."

"I'm Yong Soo," he said, giving him a smile and shook his hand. "Im Yong Soo. Thanks for helping me find my way."

He returned it, "It was nice meeting you, Yong Soo. Good luck!"

Yong Soo continued down the hall and was met by a vending machine decorated in the colours pink, white and yellow. It had the huge logo of _"Nyu Cream Soda's"_. Feeling thirsty, Yong Soo then placed a coin in and chose the _"Mango"_ option out of the five buttons provided. A plastic bottle with orange liquid inside of it tumbled out of the machine.

* * *

Sighing as she hugged her books close to her chest, Madeleine gazed at the machine before her. _'Nyu Cream Soda?'_ she thought to herself in curiosity. Feeling rather thirsty, she then took out her wallet, entered the right amount of cash into the machine and, after pondering what choice to put, she pressed the _"Grape"_ option. Out tumbled a plastic bottle with purple liquid inside of it.

She picked it up; it felt not only cool, but refreshing.

* * *

"_Nyu Cream Soda_?" Lovino read aloud to himself as he encountered the machine before him. After gazing at the thing for a considerable amount of time, he shrugged and took out his wallet. "Meh, why the fuck not?" he then glanced at the choices and after some thought, pressed the option that read _"Lemon"_.

Picking up the bottle, he saw that it had golden liquid sloshing inside of it. He arched his eyebrow and gave a shrug, "Eh, at least it doesn't look like the cheap shit that looks like piss."

* * *

Everyone avoided Natalya's path as she made her way to detention, fully accustomed as to where the room was.

However, she was in a foul mood from being placed into detention – she was trying to study after all!

But, what _did _make up for her foul mood and crappy lessons was the raucous that that one Asian boy had caused in the new gymnasium – standing up and ripping his jacket open while screaming for everyone's right for independence…

She smirked when she recalled the look of shock on Principal Morgan and the rest of those morons' faces: they were _priceless._

She then saw the vending machine and casually took out her wallet from her jeans. After inserting the necessary amount of coins, she straight away pressed the option that read _"Strawberry" _and out tumbled the bottle with pink-red liquid.

Opening the bottle, it gave a slight hiss as she then sipped, giving a content sigh and licking her lips. The few times of going to detention was enough for her to try all of the options, but, in her opinion, strawberry was by far the best flavour.

* * *

Running a hand through his dark, spiky hair, Mitchell wasn't in a good mood. Since the last time he went into detention was in junior year (two years ago) when he and Anya had pulled a big prank on the jocks for stealing Mitchell's orca plushie that Anya bought him for his birthday, the Seychellois student had no idea where to go and ended up getting lost for five minutes.

He really needed something to calm him down; maybe a drink would suffice. Looking forward, he then saw a vending machine.

'_Nyu Cream Soda?'_ he wondered to himself. Taking out his ray wallet from his octopus bag, he inserted the coins and after pondering a great deal, he then pressed the button that read _"Lime"_.

The bottle immediately tumbled out. Mitchell picked it up and saw that the bottle was made of plastic and the liquid inside of it was a lovely shade of green. He opened it, gave it a cautious sniff and then took a sip.

* * *

_And that ends **Soda Tongue**'s first part. There are like...more parts to it because this was the_ first _ever multi-chaptered thing I ever wrote up and worked on, but decided to scrap it because I kept finding clashes. XD I also apologize to anyone who found my snide words towards the new Disney Channel offending - that is simply my opinion, and we all have the right to be entitled to our opinions. I don't honestly care if you like it - go for it, if you like it._

_Anyway, thoughts and opinions if you want - have a nice day. :DDD_

_Sincerely,  
HetaWriter/HetaReader_


	7. Soda Tongue: Turn Up the Music

_Some more **Soda Tongue**. :)_

_Thanks goes to **Ayumi Kudou **and a **Guest **for the reviews. 8D**  
**_

**_Ayumi Kudou:_**_ I watch the first part of LP's (about 1-3) on YouTube first before buying the game to see if it's good or worth it. =^w^= to me, Disney Channel went down when Hannah Montana sky-rocketed. I don't watch much TV either - I only watch shows like Law & Order and Criminal Minds (because they're so intriguing and pull you in) as well as X-Factor and The Voice (because it's amusing, but the Voice is more professional). XD yeah, but it's _very _rare for them to make a good movie like Lemonade Mouth nowadays because it's all shallow. Thank you. :) the main inspiration is Lemonade Mouth, but I threw in a couple of my own things to fit a high school setting (there'll be snippets of a talent show later on, that includes the BTT XD). I found HetaOni interesting, but I honestly think it's overrated now - the interpretations are interesting, and the OST is _gorgeous, _however, I don't see anything else interesting about it to make it into a fanfic - be original! Make up your own thing! 2Ptalia I use as villains, but to me, they're not psycho (or at least don't show it visibly) - they seem more crafty and sneaky (think super-villain 8D). It's perfectly fine - I have the tendency to respond back, too. XD_

**_Guest:_**_ Thank you! You shall get more **Soda Tongue. **XD the OST of Lemonade Mouth is a refreshing change from all the techno, hip-hop dance garbage that goes on. Plus, the lyrics aren't meaningless (e.g. Somebody, Determinate, More Than a Band, She's So Gone). Actually, I twisted the character's roles around a bit, so it'll be a mix of certain characters. ^_^'_

_****__Piece Title:__ Soda Tongue [Turn Up the Music]  
**Chapter No.: **2  
**Rating:** T (swearing)  
__**Warning: **Human AU, Nyotalia, 2Ptalia  
__**Pairing/s: **N/A  
__**Chapter Summary: **In detention, after Mr Machado leave from his rant on Mr Morgan, the five oddballs in detention get off to a rigid start. However, they soon see that they all share one thing in common, and actually find themselves having a great time.**  
**__**Inspiration/s: **Lemonade Mouth_

___Please be aware - I only own the story. I don't own any suggested music, the original media (i.e. Lemonade Mouth, fairy-tales) or Hetalia (obviously). _

_Anyway, continue!_

* * *

In detention, everyone just stared with shocked and amazed expressions at Mr Machado as he ranted on about Principal Morgan and his contrasting treatment between sports and the arts. His expression and tone of voice was so terrible, that it would've even made Godzilla bow down before him. After his darkened face finally turned an unhealthy shade of red (though from anger or yelling, nobody knew), he furiously yelled, "I'M GONNA GIVE THAT DAMN SON OF A BITCH A PIECE OF MY FREAKING MIND AND WHILE I DO, JUST START CLEANING UP OR SOMETHING AROUND HERE! BE DAMN USEFUL!"

Everyone flinched when he slammed the door shut. Even Natalya.

"He can't make us clean," Yong Soo said casually once the Cuban man had left. The Korean boy stood up and nonchalantly paced to the front of the room, sitting cross legged on the teacher's desk. "It's cruel and unusual punishment."

"Welcome to high school," Mitchell mumbled, getting up from his seat. He placed a bucket underneath a hole in the room's ceiling that had water seeping through.

"This school fucking _stinks_," Lovino grumbled after gazing at the crack for a bit.

"Can you guys please just do what Mr Machado asks?" Madeleine asked as she shyly clung onto a mop. When Lovino turned to look at her, Madeleine almost jumped, seeing the harsh glare in the Italian's eyes. "I…I don't want to get another detention," she stuttered.

Lovino scratched his head, _'Where have I seen…wait! Hold on! She had the freaking maple syrup!'_

Yong Soo got up from his seat on Mr Machado's desk and began looking around the room, quite intrigued.

At this point, Mitchell was becoming annoyed as he was the only one cleaning (Madeleine was distracted).

Everyone's thoughts and actions were interrupted when they heard a rapping sound of fingers on wood. They turned their heads to find the source.

Lovino hadn't moved from his seat at all. He had his eyes shut and he seemed to be concentrating.

_Drip_.

His fingers drummed in rapid succession on the table's surface, making a crisp, drum-like beat.

_Drip._

There his fingers went again. Madeleine stared in interest at how fast his fingers moved and how calm he looked. Natalya was surprised; too, mainly at how calm the Italian looked as opposed to his usual impulsive, ranting self.

Another drip sounded and Lovino drummed his fingers on the wooden surface again, only this time, he added a snap from the fingers on his other hand. This carried on for a while into a catchy drum-like beat until Mitchell took out his house keys and began playing around with them, adding a shimmering sound effect that matched perfectly into Lovino's drum beat.

_Shing! Shing!_

Lovino opened his eyes and stared at the new sound maker. Mitchell played around with his keys, swaying his body a bit to the beat that the Italian was making. Lovino snorted.

_Pfft, pfft._

The Italian and the Seychellois student looked at the direction of the new noise. Madeleine was holding a sprayer full of detergent and pressed it, making the noises. Funny enough, it fit in with Lovino's beat and Mitchell's shimmering effect.

This carried on; Madeleine began swaying her head and smiled. Yong Soo then started clapping his hands in rhythm and a grin was pulled onto his face at the sound that was being produced.

Lovino suddenly pulled his bag up and whipped out a pair of drumsticks and began making a better beat with them alone.

Natalya then pulled up a big double bass and began plucking at the strings, making a funky sound. Mitchell also picked up some sticks and began playing on the xylophone nearby, adding flavour.

All of a sudden, the loud sound of a real snare and cymbals was heard and Yong Soo realized that Lovino had made his way to the drum kit and was now producing an even _better_ beat from before. Eyeing the piano underneath the xylophone, Mitchell started producing some beautiful chords that went along with everything. Finally, seeing a guitar standing alone amongst some boxes, Yong Soo immediately picked it up and began strumming an awesome melody that matched with the harmonies that Mitchell and Natalya were making and the beat the Lovino produced.

However, there was the nagging thought in their minds that something was missing from this scenario. What was it?

"Na, na, na, na, na."

_There's_ what was missing. Everyone stared at the singer and Madeleine was smiling to herself shyly, eyes shut, absorbed in the music but also fixing the stacks of sheets in her hand.

"Na, na, na. Take a look around, who would've thought we'd all be here?" as she sang, she stood up and started wiping at things with the cleaning cloth, including a globe, some shelves, and some music cases. She smiled, her reflection peering back at her from the shiny surface of a desk.

"So let's mess around, cause the future is unclear. We got nothing better to do, we're just trying to get through," suddenly, in her focus of singing _and _cleaning, she accidentally bumped a guitar case from behind and it toppled over, landing on a bunch of boxes. A few fell on their sides and some sheets scattered out.

Natalya's eyebrow arched, but nonetheless, she kept playing the double bass she found. Mitchell's jaw was dropped, but Yong Soo was grinning widely.

"Can you hear me? Can you hear me?_"_

"No we can't!" Yong Soo grabbed her arm and pulled her in to the centre, where the light was shining the most. Madeleine was highly embarrassed at first, but felt better when she turned around and saw that the Seychellois boy on the piano was starting to sing along with her as was Yong Soo.

"Let the music groove you,_" _the three of them sang together in unison. "Let the melody move you. Feel the beat and just let go; get the rhythm into your soul! Let the music take you anywhere it wants to. When we're stuck and can't get free, no matter what, we'll still be singing!_"_

Yong Soo then ran off from the centre, ran up to the desk and put on Mr Machado's sunglasses as a joke. Mitchell threw a scrunched up piece of paper at him and the Korean student hid behind a skeleton model with a blue boa on it.

All the while, still singing.

"Come on, come on! Turn up the music. It's all we got, we're gonna use it. Come on, come on! Turn up the music. Yeah!_"_

Madeleine then ran up to the blackboard and wrote the word _"Detention"_ and underlined it. She twirled around a bit, her skirt billowing slightly as she approached the group again.

"All we have is now, let's make the most of this. Come on break it out so everyone can hear it. They don't have to understand, but we'll make them if we can. Do you hear me? Are you with me? Yeah!_"_

During this, she pulled a purple boa from one of the boxes and as she gracefully danced while singing, put it on Mitchell, who gave an embarrassed chuckle, and shook his head. Madeleine then picked up a Viking helmet and carefully put it on Lovino's head. Lovino was greatly surprised at first, but just shrugged and snickered at Mitchell's purple boa. The Seychellois boy glared daggers at the Italian.

Madeleine then picked up a cowboy hat from Mitchell's piano and came over to Natalya, who was staring at her with slightly narrowed eyes.

The Canadian girl smiled shyly at her, and after seeing the Belarusian student shrug, placed the hat on her head. Natalya gave another shrug as she adjusted it and nodded, continuing to play. Seeing a pair of goofy pink sunglasses with star frames, Madeleine grabbed it and ran up to Yong Soo, who eagerly lowered his head and accepted the pair of specs, still strumming.

"Let the music groove you. Let the melody move you. Feel the beat and just let go. Get the rhythm into your soul! Let the music take you anywhere it wants to. When we're stuck and can't get free, no matter what, we'll still be singing! Come on, come on! Turn up the music. It's all we got, we're gonna use it. Come on, come on! Turn up the music._"_

"Yeah!_" _sang Madeleine after she, Mitchell and Yong Soo did the chorus. The two boys joined her yet again. "Come on, come on! Turn up the music. It's all we got, we're gonna use it. Come on, come on! Turn up the music!_"_

Madeleine shut her eyes as she sang out in a more strong tone,_ "_Turn up the music!_" _She chose that time to dance with the skeleton model and even twirled with it, unfortunately, it fell over and she was left holding an arm, much to her shock. However, it was immediately laughed off as Madeleine still danced with the skeleton's arm. Yong Soo did a quick spin while playing guitar and Lovino chose that time to screw his dignity and sing loudly with the others: he couldn't explain what he was feeling but he felt unexplainably happy. He gave Natalya a look that tried to urge her to join in.

Surprised at that suddenly encouraging look that the usually grouchy Italian was giving her, Natalya glanced around her, and seeing the warm atmosphere and actually _feeling _it penetrate underneath her usually icy surface, a soft smile twitched at her lips, and she joined in; now feeling that same feeling the Italian felt.

Inexplicably happy.

As one, this odd group all sang together, _"_Let the music groove you. Let the melody move you. Feel the beat and just let go. Get the rhythm into your soul. Let the music take you anywhere it wants to. When we're stuck and can't get free, no matter what, we'll still be singing! Come on, come on! Turn up the music. It's all we got, we're gonna use it! Feel the beat and just let go! Get the rhythm into your soul! Let the music take you anywhere it wants to. Come on, come on! Turn up the music!_"_

Madeleine finally ended their little performance with a much softer, _"_Yeah_," _as all the instruments stopped on one note with her.

By the time they finished with their performance, everyone was now in good spirits, high from the adrenaline of performing with their respected instruments but also unexplainably happy from that unexpected performance. They were all laughing but froze immediately after.

Mr Machado was standing at the door with his hands on his hips.

"Mr Machado, we're really sorry," Mitchell spoke up leaving his spot from behind the piano at once. Everyone else either looked scared or worried. However, everyone else began stuttering as they tried to think of a good excuse for messing around on the instruments without permission.

Mr Machado waved a hand dismissively, "Let me think, let me think! I need to think…" He then turned to Madeleine and pointed a finger at her, Madeleine backed off a bit since the finger was practically almost touching her nose and it was huge. "You…"

Madeleine was opening her mouth, but nothing was coming out; she was scared out of her wits now.

Yong Soo then stood closer, "Sir, she didn't do anything, she—"

"You…you're Madeleine, right?" Mr Machado questioned. After seeing Madeleine's head slowly nod, the Cuban man continued, "You Madeleine…have an _amazing_ voice!"

Everyone stared in confusion as the Cuban teacher gave a loud fan-like squeal in ecstasy. "Your band! It's a _gift_!" he shouted, clapping his hands.

"We're not a band," Natalya shook her head and gently placed the double bass back in its place, however she was amused at Mr Machado's sudden giddiness.

"Yeah, we don't even know each other," Lovino grumbled, leaving his spot from the drum kit, expertly twirling his sticks and placing them with great care back into his bag.

"You were _meant_ to play together!" Mr Machado said excitedly, clapping his hands, a huge smile spread out across his face. "It's definitely destiny! Oh, come _on_!" the students went back to their seats, the high now died down. "You don't have a moment like that and just ignore it! People, they…they _need_ to hear you! Damn, that'll show Morgan," he smirked, causing a laugh to spout out from Yong Soo's mouth. The Cuban teacher then paused and had a thoughtful look on his face, "That…will show…Morgan. That's it! Glory Rise!"

"Glory…what?" Yong Soo asked, confused.

Natalya turned to face him. "Glory Rise," she explained. "It is a talent competition done in the Grand Auditorium in the city where schools from all over compete. The winner gets a record deal and air time."

"_Making tomorrow's stars today_," Mitchell sang and added in some beat-box noises. "_Making tomorrow's stars today! Whoaho! Hey!_"

Lovino then rolled his eyes and rubbed at his temples; he hated that stupid jingle, especially when his younger brother sang it. "Glory Rise only happens at the end of the school year but you have to put your entry in really early," he added in Yong Soo's direction. "After all, we ain't the only school and they take a damn long time to process performances and shit…"

"Just think about it, you guys!" Mr Machado said, even more excited than the students were. "You'll show _everyone _around here that sports isn't the only thing that matters! So!" he chuckled and gave a clap of his hands and approached Lovino's desk first. "What do you say?"

The Italian arched an eyebrow when the man crouched down to go eye level with him. He glared head on with the large man, though he was inwardly nervous at the looming height.

"So, you in?"

Everyone watched Lovino's reaction closely, as if his decision would matter. The Italian then gave a nonchalant shrug, "Pass."

"_What_?!" Mr Machado looked completely devastated at that simple word, voice even going up an octave.

"No way in hell," Lovino said coldly. "It's stupid."

"Okay," Mr Machado moved on to Natalya's desk. The Belarusian girl shook her head. "I really can't. Between my AP classes, I also have my violin lessons and recitals."

"I have AP classes, too," Mitchell said before Mr Machado could approach his desk. "I'm really sorry…"

Mr Machado looked annoyed at this point, but then he went to Madeleine with a smile. "Okay, what about you?" he asked, beaming at the Canadian girl.

Madeleine licked her lips and faced the teacher, trying to find a good excuse to get out of this whole affair. "I…I don't sing," she said lamely.

Yong Soo burst out laughing at the pathetic excuse while Mr Machado crossed his arms over his chest. "Uh, we just _heard_ you sing," he said.

"I meant, I can't sing on stage," Michelin said, her face now flushed.

"Oh, come on! _Sure_ you can!" Mr Machado flashed the girl a reassuring smile.

"No, trust me; I really can't!" Michelin said, feeling scared at the thought now. "It won't be pretty. The last time I performed on stage was my first grade recital and five minutes into _"Baa, baa Black Sheep"_, I threw up down the back of the kid in front of me."

Mitchell had a sympathetic look on his face, Lovino looked disgusted, Natalya blinked and Yong Soo laughed louder than ever. "Hahaha! That sounds sweet, da ze!" he grinned.

Madeleine however shook her head, "No, it was humiliating," she said, then looked back up at Mr Machado. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Well, I guess that counts awesome me out, right?" Yong Soo said as he leaned back on his seat and rested his arms behind his back. "Can't really enter a competition with one man in the band. You know, unless you're thinking of a solo career, which I'd be happy to consider."

"Dumbass, Glory Rise only applies to _groups_," Lovino snapped. "_High Star_ applies to soloists and that happens _next _year!"

"Besides," Madeleine spoke up, her face falling a bit. "World Class Act are entering. We wouldn't have a chance. They're amazing."

Natalya rolled her eyes, "They aren't _that _amazing."

Yong Soo shrugged, "Since we don't _supposedly_ stand a chance against them, then why bother, right? We all know we're awesome, we don't really need to prove it since we all know it."

Mr Machado then chose to gaze at the Asian student. The said Asian student looked a bit uneasy at the intense gaze that the Cuban teacher was giving him. "Because, you said it yourself, Im Yong Soo," the Korean's eyes widened when the teacher repeated what he had said earlier in assembly. "You – deserve – to be – _heard_." He enunciated every syllable.

Yong Soo said nothing as he looked at everyone else in the room. Everyone else however averted their eyes elsewhere away from him.

By the time detention was over, everyone went their separate ways again.

However, the Korean boy couldn't help but stare after each and every one of the backs of the others...

* * *

_To those who know of Lemonade Mouth, as you can see, I've mixed and twisted certain things around. The official couple is also different, and so forth, certain things change over, but it still doesn't affect the story that much. Plus, though **Soda Tongue **is heavily inspired by Lemonade Mouth, it'll have other high school elements (i.e. a talent show). Otherwise, nothing else really. ^w^'_

_Thoughts and opinions if you want to - good day! :DDD_

_Sincerely,  
HetaWriter/HetaReader_


	8. Soda Tongue: Fluke or Destiny?

_Some more **Soda Tongue **again. XD_

_Thanks goes to **Ayumi Kudou **for the review! :D_

**_Ayumi Kudou: _**_That's the absolute best - I'm actually using them like that in my fic **A Tail For Two Legs**. XD well, the 1st season of Hannah Montana was okay - the later ones are pretty bad. The Suite Life of Zack and Cody was good, but I really didn't like Suite Life on Deck (I hated Bailey). Well, I wanted to use Nyo!Seychelles because he needs some love, too. :)__  
_

___****__Piece Title:__ Soda Tongue [Fluke or Destiny? No Crying, Bitches]  
**Chapter No.: 3**  
**Rating:** T (swearing)  
__**Warning: **Human AU, Nyotalia, 2Ptalia  
__**Pairing/s: **N/A  
__**Chapter Summary: **After a bit of contemplation, Yong Soo decides to push forth Mr Machado's idea of forming a band with the kids he had detention with. Texting each and every one of them to come, he then tries to convince them.**  
**__**Inspiration/s: **Lemonade Mouth_

_____Here we go. :)_

* * *

"I'm home," Lovino mumbled as he entered his house and kicked his shoes off. A woman with auburn hair and an olive complexion smiled. Lovino gave a small smile back when she embraced him, "Oh, my little Lovino. How was your day?"

Lovino nodded at his mother, "Fine, mama. How about you?"

"Doing just fine. Are you hungry? I made some fresh _Cannoli _today. I've already packed some for Feli, so you can eat as much as you want, okay?"

Lovino licked his lips, almost drooling. "_Grazie_, Mama. I'll bring it to him later before I go to work."

His mother smiled, "_Mio figlio_, I visited your _fratellino_ today. He seemed in high spirits and was eager to meet you."

Lovino had a _Cannoli_ poking out of his mouth. He took it out and looked at his mother who was now washing some dishes. "Seriously? So…he's recovering?"

His mother smiled, "He seems like it."

A scrawny looking dark brown cat was then trudging into the room. "Pookie," Lovino said as he reached down to stroke the cat. He felt the ribs jutting out and felt unhappy as the cat gave a pitiful mew in greeting. "How's Pookie doing?"

His mother sighed, "She still hasn't eaten."

Eying the cat's food and water bowl nearby, after shoving another two _Cannoli _into his mouth, Lovino carefully picked up the bony animal and took it to the bowls. "Here you go, Pookie," he urged, scratching the cat's head affectionately. "Come on, come on. Look, damn it. It looks nice, right?"

His mother disregarded his rough manner of speech. She gave her eldest son a sad look and went back to her washing.

The cat belonged to Lovino's younger brother and even a blind man could tell that the poor animal didn't have much time.

* * *

As Mitchell walked home, he went past the stables and after hearing one of the horses whinny, he looked up and saw that his whole family and Marianne were there.

"Welcome home, Mitchell," his father greeted as he began saddling up a black horse who Chanelle was stroking fondly. "We're all going for a ride; would you like to join us?"

Mitchell surveyed the scene before him for a little bit and after a moment's thought, finally shook his head, "Thanks, but," he responded, still a bit bitter from that morning. "I don't like riding."

"What are you talking about? Yes, you do," Chanelle said, arching an eyebrow at her older brother and putting her hands on her hips.

"No, I _don't_," Mitchell sternly responded.

His father then intervened, "Come on, Mitchell; since when did you _not_ like riding?"

Mitchell didn't respond. He looked straight at Marianne and couldn't help the scowl cross his face. Marianne didn't say anything, still feeling guilty about taking her boyfriend's son's homework by mistake and landing him a detention. "I've got a lot of homework to do, and I'm tired," Mitchell sauntered off towards the house.

His father looked disappointed, but he then exhaled and clapped his hands, smiling at his daughter and girlfriend, "Okay! I guess it's just us, then. We are going for an adventure."

* * *

Inside, Natalya put her bag at the side of her bed and feeling in the mood for some music (thanks to detention), she took out her beloved violin from its case, tightened the bow and played a few scales to check if the thing was in tune.

After flicking a book with sheet music and placing it on the stand, Natalya started playing a piece that she was supposed to perform at the city's Grand Auditorium in a month. She played for a while, shutting her eyes to concentrate on not making any mistake and play as much as she can without looking at her book for guidance, but she felt somewhat empty.

'_What is missing?'_ she wondered to herself. She then recalled of the time she was in detention and felt a ghost of a smile seep onto her face as everyone just let go and enjoyed themselves. She remembered the chords she played on the double bass and after remembering Madeleine's singing, as well as finding her fingers on the strings and frets, started to play the tune again.

This time, she was swaying her body to the rhythm and even gave a little chuckle at what she was playing.

Katyusha had needed to go to the bathroom at that point and walked past Natalya's room, where the door was slightly ajar. The woman man smiled at her younger sister; she was really talented and it was nice to see Natalya loosen up and have fun.

* * *

"We're home!" a loud voice called out.

"Alfred! Madeleine! Welcome home!" a blonde woman came in, smiling at her two sons. "How was school?"

"It was great!" Alfred shouted, grinning. "Today Kai and I _totally _did well in our…"

Madeleine stayed silent as she listened to what was going on. This was how it would usually start; their mother would greet and question them on their day. Alfred would talk on and on and on, her mother would question Madeleine about her own day. Then before she could barely start, their father would come in and question Alfred about his practice with any sport and after a proud or bitter response from Alfred, everyone would enjoy dinner and Madeleine would be forgotten once again.

"How about you, Madeleine, dear? How was your day?" her mother smiled at her.

"Oh, um…it was good," Madeleine said, not wanting to bring about his time in detention. "I…"

"Al!" a loud voice called out.

"Dad!" Alfred shouted and the two were in a bear-hug.

"So, how was basketball practice?" their father asked, grinning. Alfred returned back with a grin of the similar fashion, "It was just so freaking awesome!"

Madeleine said nothing as everyone kept talking and gushing about her brother before her. Silently, she helped set the table out.

* * *

Yong Soo lay on his couch bored out of his mind. He announced his arrival only to discover that his mother was working late that night and his brothers had gone out to hang with their friends, too.

Feeling peckish, he went over to the fridge and prepared himself a meal of kimchi and bubble tea. As the food steamed, he began blowing bubbles in his bubble tea; he always loved doing this.

By the time his dinner was cooked to what he deemed as perfection, he sat on the couch and began flicking through the television. During this time, he landed on a movie that had a bunch of kids in a classroom and their teacher, who had dark brown hair that reached to his shoulders, was explaining something to the kids

"And then…Hawaii 5-0, you ever see that show? Okay, well there's a drum solo in there…shigadugadugdugadugaduga! You're not hardcore unless you live then…that's where I want the back-up singers to be like…"

Yong Soo laughed quite hard and before he knew it, he left his meal, picked up his guitar that happened to be conveniently by the couch's arm and started strumming chords along to the teacher's lyrics and even joined in the singing himself, though with the back-up part, he didn't bother.

"Well you're not hardcore, no, you're not hardcore, unless you live hardcore, unless you live hardcore, but the legend of the rent was way hardcore!_"_

Yong Soo then stopped and stared at the screen. Did that man just seriously sing about a rent in the last line? Was the whole song _seriously_ about a rent? He then cracked up again and landed on his back, lying on the couch, clutching his guitar close. Yong Soo then watched the movie for the rest of the night (thank God for cable) and made a mental note to himself to buy the DVD when he had the chance. He was also quite impressed by how the man was able to get the kids to rock out like stars and influence on the parents, making them convert from stiff bitches to awesome, supportive relatives.

"I bet _I _can start a revolution like him," Yong Soo said, smile now on his face as he pulled on a single string. His curl matched his expression

Who said that teaching couldn't be fun?

* * *

Back at school the next day, Lovino was glaring up at the screen as Mr Morgan made an announcement.

"Good morning, Grand World High!" the Principal greeted with a big smile. "Yes, it's that time of year again; you gotta get out there and vote, because guess what? Yes, _I _have been nominated yet again for school administrator of the year…"

'_Who gives a fuck?' _Lovino thought to himself, utterly bored. He rested his head in his arms and was about to drift off to his wonderful sanctuary (AKA Dreamland) but his phone started to vibrate in his pants, almost making him jump out of his seat.

Cursing inwardly, Lovino whipped out his phone and saw a new message there.

'_Fluke or destiny? We need to talk._

_ - Yong Soo_

Lovino rolled his eyes but began to wonder what Yong Soo meant in his message. After thinking for a while, he then remembered what Mr Machado had said to them yesterday after listening to them play.

He froze upon realizing something.

'_Wait…_how _the hell did this bastard even _get_ my number?!'_

* * *

Madeleine was washing her hands until she heard a _'ding!'_ coming from her iPhone. Picking it up, she saw a message from Yong Soo.

'_Fluke or destiny? We need to talk._

_ - Yong Soo_

The blonde stared down at the message, wide-eyed; however, due to her hands being covered with soap, her iPhone slipped and fell into the sink.

"Maple!" she yelped as she plunged her hands into the sink to rescue her beloved communication device.

* * *

Natalya was going through her locker and was wondering what will happen for the rest of the day until she heard her phone ringing. She took it out and saw a new message there.

'_Fluke or destiny? We need to talk._

_ - Yong Soo'_

Natalya was pondering on what the Asian student was talking about then instantly remembered detention yesterday.

* * *

Mitchell and Anya were chatting casually in the cafeteria and were showing each other what they had for lunch.

Both then swapped back lunches to eat their own until Mitchell's phone began ringing. Startled, Mitchell whipped out his phone from his pants pocket and peered at the new message.

'_Fluke or destiny? We need to talk._

_ - Yong Soo'_

"Well, this is really strange," Mitchell said arching his eyebrows.

"What is wrong, Mitchell?" questioned Anya, mouth full of _Pelmeni_. When her best friend showed her the message, this got the Russian confused. "How does this Yong Soo have your number?"

"I don't really know…" Mitchell was scratching at his head as he sighed. "I wonder what this guy wants."

"I will come with you, _da_?" Anya spoke up, eating more of her lunch. Mitchell arched his eyebrow at his friend but before he could say anything else, the Russian continued, content expression on her face, "_Da_, just in case something…_unpleasant_ happens." She ate some more of her lunch, "If anyone tries to do anything bad to Mitchell, they may suffer a very…_horrible _accident…_da_…"

Mitchell scratched his head and gave a nervous chuckle as some students ran off due to the ominous aura that the Russian girl was giving off. He appreciated his best friend being concerned about him, and he was starting to wonder about Yong Soo's intentions.

'_Could this possibly be about what Mr Machado said from before?' _he wondered to himself.

* * *

That night, at the Café Italia, Yong Soo beamed when the people he texted came in one by one. _'Oh yeah! They came, da ze!'_ he thought to himself as he waved at them.

Madeleine was the first person to come in. The shy blonde gave a small wave and plopped down on his right.

Next person that came was Lovino. The Italian had a scowl present on his face and glared at the silver-haired senior who merely smirked at him. Lovino's nostrils were flaring and he took the seat that was one off from Yong Soo's left.

After Lovino was Natalya. She sat next to Yong Soo's other side, filling the empty void between him and Lovino.

Last of all to come was Mitchell. However, someone else joined him.

"What is _she_ doing here?" Lovino demanded as Anya pulled up a chair from an empty table nearby and sat alongside her friend. Mitchell had placed himself on Lovino's other side while Anya sat with him as well as on Madeleine's remaining side.

"_Kak gruboe. _Am I not allowed to accompany my best friend? _Kolkolkol_…" Anya asked, giving a sweet smile, but everyone else couldn't help but feel uneasy from the sharp ice glowing in her violet eyes as she twirled one strand of her beige-blonde hair. Lovino felt a chill run down his spine at the eyes the Russian was giving him and he gulped; he almost wet himself when he heard the dark chuckle following.

Noticing how uneasy everyone seemed, Mitchell tried to lighten the mood; still he felt disappointed at everyone's reactions, though he should've expected it. "Don't worry; she was just worried about anything bad happening and came just in case."

Michelin looked at Anya again and saw that the Russian looked at the Seychellois male in a shy and rather…_endearing_ sort of way. The violet eyes glowed down, and the smile on his face; Anya looked happy to be around Mitchell. Yong Soo couldn't help but smile at the funny pair and decided to give it a shot and be friendly; if Mitchell put it that way, Anya can't be that bad, can she?

"I'm Yong Soo," the Asian said, leaning over and extending his arm to the Russian girl. "What's your name?"

Everyone watched in shock and surprise at the action that the new boy was doing; did he want a death wish? Lovino was about to yank Yong Soo's arm back while Madeleine's jaw dropped and Natalya simply stared, curious as to how the Russian girl will respond. As for Mitchell, he watched in surprise. Anya herself looked surprised at the greeting, but gave a bashful smile and took it, "Good to meet you, I am Anya."

Yong Soo looked up and the thing that made him uneasy about the Russian vanished. She had a sincere smile on her face and her eyes were warm. He smiled back.

Mitchell inwardly sighed in relief; glad that this boy broke the tension that was created before. He felt proud that someone looked past Anya's intimidating self and reputation (though the Seychellois student wondered if he even _knew_ about that since he was new after all) and was willing to shake hands with her.

Yong Soo then spoke up about why he brought everyone (but Anya) there. He put forth his plan of forming a band as Mr Machado had suggested earlier, bringing up the detention performance again as well as the words that the Cuban man used before. Just then, the margarita pizza was brought in and placed on the table.

Lovino rolled his eyes as he took the largest pizza slice, "Chigi! We already fucking talked about this! It's _not_ gonna happen!" he shoved it into his mouth, chomping it down, cheese dangling.

"Sure it is, da ze!" Yong Soo said, nodding. He himself took a pizza slice as did everyone else, "I signed us up for Glory Rise this morning."

Madeleine's jaw dropped open again. "B-but…we're not experienced enough for this," she said, quietly biting on his slice.

"Which is why I also signed us up for the Halloween Bash," Yong Soo said proudly. "Besides, we have a full year to prepare for Glory Rise, and I reckon we can definitely nail it until then!"

Mitchell stopped before taking a bite on his slice while Lovino gaped, wanting to punch the damn smile off of the Asian's face.

"How did you even pull that off?" Mitchell asked more out of curiosity than disbelief while Anya was calmly eating her own slice, silently listening in on the whole conversation. "It's not easy to gain a registration form for Glory Rise last time I heard."

Yong Soo chuckled, "I pulled a few strings; trust me, it wasn't that hard."

"You fucking bastard!" Lovino snapped, unimpressed. "Goofing around in a shitty room in detention does _not _make us a damn band!" he took a sip of his soda.

"So what?" Yong Soo asked. "You play drums and…" he turned to Natalya. "You play bass, right?"

Natalya nodded, "Yes, I play bass…"

"Okay," Mitchell nodded and politely wiped his mouth with a serviette. "But then what are we going to play?"

Yong Soo faltered off, now wondering what to answer and quick, but before he could respond, Madeleine spoke up, raising her hand. "I…I can write our songs," she offered shyly.

Everyone looked at her in surprise. "You write songs?" Natalya asked, intrigued and impressed. Madeleine nodded, feeling a little embarrassed by all the attention she was getting, "Yes, I write when I'm bored. I never performed them to anyone else but my mother, though."

"Well, there we have it!" Yong Soo grinned. "Problem solved; piece of cake, da ze!"

"Wait a fucking minute!" Lovino spoke up. "We can't play the damn Bash; that's World Class Act's thing."

"Well, _we_ are opening for them," Yong Soo said casually as he sipped his soda. "Even though we're way better than they are." At that, he and Mitchell high-fived in agreement, Anya gave a small chuckle and silently continued to eat. Yong Soo turned back to everyone else on the table. "Look, I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want to just be some random face in the yearbook. Or just that one Asian kid that everyone vaguely recalls. I wanna be heard!"

"Mitchell and I are in," Yong Soo said. "Who's with us?"

Contemplating Yong Soo's offer, Natalya then shrugged and spoke up, "I guess I'll give it a try."

"Seriously?" Yong Soo asked, ecstatic. Mitchell was quite surprised that the harsh Belarusian girl spoke first, but smiled.

"But only if everyone else agrees, first," Natalya finished. "Just one practice; if it works out, then that's great, but if it doesn't, then I'm out."

"Sweet! Okay," Yong Soo turned to face Madeleine and Lovino, who were both tight-lipped. "Please? Come on! Give it a shot! I guarantee that it will be awesome."

"Please, just give it a try," Mitchell said, giving Madeleine a gentle, reassuring smile. "It'll be fun."

"Pretty, _pretty_ please!" Yong Soo begged; his brown eyes now shiny and pleading, hands clasped. "With kimchi and cherry on top, da ze!"

Lovino gagged at what Yong Soo said, but Madeleine caved in, unable to resist the looks that the Seychellois, Korean, Russian and Belarusian were giving her, "Oh, alright! I-I'll do it!"

"Yeah!" Yong Soo cheered, stretching his arms up in triumph. Natalya nodded while Mitchell and Anya smiled at the girl and finally turned to face Lovino.

Lovino looked uneasily at the five pairs of eyes that were eagerly anticipating his response. The Italian took a sip and chomped on his third pizza slice. Getting irritated about being constantly watched, he thrust down his slice on the plate and pulled out a coin from his wallet. "You know what? Fuck it: heads says we do this damn thing, tails says we don't. No crying, alright, bitches?"

Everyone nodded in agreement as Lovino flicked the coin high up in the air.

Once it landed on the table, everyone leaned in to look at the outcome.

* * *

_Yes, I changed some things around with the characters, but be aware that I love to twist and mix my own spin on things; that's just how I roll. There's still some more **Soda Tongue** before I move on to another thing for people to look at. Also, I've finally completed **Truffles and a Hammer**! 8D_

_Thoughts and opinions if you want - have a nice day. :DDD  
_

_Sincerely,  
HetaWriter/HetaReader_


	9. Soda Tongue: Somebody

_Was busy, but don't worry, I'm not dead! I found time to upload! :D_

_Thanks goes to **Moonfeather12 **for the follow; **Starfire67 **for the fave; and finally **xXBlueSariaXx **and **Ayumi Kudou **for the reviews. :)_

**_xXBlueSariaXx: _**_Nah, it's fine. :) I myself tend to be like that from time-to-time. Ahah, yes it _is _based on Lemonade Mouth. XD really? I didn't actually know that, but thanks for that! :D oh God...XD well, originally, Madeleine and Mitchell switched places and they were their original genders - so Seychelles was the singer, while Canada was the pianist. However, I decided to change it after realizing that jealous rabids will bag on me for making Seychelles the singer and having a more involved story-line when it came to romance, so I decided to change it. I'll just leave it since this is for entertainment, and it must be funny to read my mistakes (in a way?). XD actually, yes! I was wondering if anyone would notice that, but yes - Yong Soo was watching School of Rock, and became inspired from it. :) I always loved that movie. :D_

**_Ayumi Kudou:_**_ Thank you - I actually changed the characters a few times, even while I wrote it before, until I was satisfied before. XD ugh, I see that, and it really _irritates _me. I'm glad I don't have anyone like that saying something like, "Oh! I love this because Nyo!Vietnam is hot and he and Spain can have sexy times!" (A Tail For Two Legs) and at the same time say something like, "Why'd you pair Vietnam with Spain?! He belongs with Romano/England!" if someone _does _say this to me, I won't hesitate to sharpen my tongue. Actually, I don't view Nyo!Belarus like that - I blame rather nice pixiv fanart; him as a possessive yandere appears quite funny to me, and I like portraying him like that, but to each his own. The personality you just described sounds more like Nyo!Vietnam to me - cold and serious, yet shy and awkward around people, as well as a protective, but well-meaning brother. For the male Nyotalians: Nyo!Taiwan is a trendy brother, but he can be a bit bratty and flirty at times; Nyo!Belgium is a goofy brotherly person, but knows when to be mature; Nyo!Seychelles is calm and relaxed, but also a sporty guy; Nyo!Hungary is more firm as well as composed and brotherly, but he's also into yuri; Nyo!Ukraine is very mature and a bit cowardly, but he has a big heart. I can practically take out a page or two in telling my views, takes and portrayals of the Nyotalia characters. :)__  
_

_____****__Piece Title:__ Soda Tongue [Somebody (a.k.a. At WacRonald's)]  
**Chapter No.: **4  
**Rating:** T (swearing)  
__**Warning: **Human AU, Nyotalia, 2Ptalia  
__**Pairing/s: **N/A  
__**Chapter Summary: **The newly formed band made up of Im Yong Soo, Madeleine Williams-Jones, Lovino Vargas, Mitchell Mancham and Natalya Arlovskaya, finally have their first time of doing a proper practice together. Unfortunately, things start of rather bumpily. Also, Madeleine is dealing with some issues regarding with her brother Alfred since he himself is part of a band...**  
**__**Inspiration/s: **Lemonade Mouth_

* * *

"Come on, Lovino!" Yong Soo whined, getting annoyed now. "It's a simple four-four beat! You're not even trying, da ze! It's B to B flat, back to B then an F sharp!" he motioned at his electric guitar as he was talking.

Lovino's amber eye twitched and he visibly snarled, baring his teeth from behind his spot in the drum kit. "Shut the hell up, kimchi bastard!" he snapped. "Quit rushing me, damn it!"

It was only the first practice, and already the foul-mouthed Italian referred to the Korean boy as _"kimchi bastard" _all due to Yong Soo's love for the stuff. He also called Mitchell _"fish bastard"_ because of his love for underwater things. Despite that, Yong Soo didn't seem to mind the swearing that was aimed right at him. Madeleine flinched a few times at the Italian's harsh manner of speech, while Natalya was rather nonchalant.

Yong Soo then spoke up, "Okay, guys! Ready?" and with that, he began expertly strumming a rock-like chord on his guitar before moving his fingers along in a fluid manner, Natalya following after with strums on her own bass. Lovino was able to improvise by making up a beat, but Mitchell and Madeleine both looked awkward and out of place from the more rock like music.

"Okay, okay! Hold on! That's enough!" Mitchell shouted over the noise. Everyone else commenced and turned to face the Seychellois boy. "This isn't working out!"

"We'll get it," Yong Soo reassured, though he ran a hand through his black brown hair. "We just need to keep practicing. Also, I think we need to go a _little_ more hard core." For emphasis, he gave a loud, blaring strum on his electric guitar.

Lovino gave the Korean boy a dumbfounded look and finally rolled his eyes, standing up from his place, "You know what? That fucking does it; I'm _so_ out of here!"

"What?!" Yong Soo's brown eyes widened. "You're just gonna give up?!"

"No, come on, please don't leave," Madeleine pleaded weakly, coming forward and holding Lovino by his arm.

The Italian tensed at the close contact the girl was giving him and stopped for a moment. However, he cleared his throat, face becoming progressively beat red, and carefully slipped his arm out of her grip. He then heaved a sigh, "Look, in case you guys haven't noticed; I _don't_ do bands – they're not my thing. I don't know what the hell to do in these kinds of situations."

Natalya then sighed and took the bass off, shaking her head, "I am out, too. Sorry."

"_What_?!" Yong Soo's eyes bulged and his voice practically went up two octaves.

"Guys, come on, we can work this out," Mitchell said, trying to reason the Italian boy and Belarusian girl.

"Yes, Mitchell's right!" Madeleine agreed, trying to appeal to the two students who were getting ready to leave. "Maybe…maybe if we just take it from the top or something, we'll get it in time."

"They're quitting before we even freaking started!" Yong Soo shouted, his face visibly angry. His curl matched the furious expression on his face as he yelled, "They're quitters, da ze! Fucking _quitters_!"

Madeleine visibly flinched and Natalya arched an elegant eyebrow at the Korean boy's slip of the swear word. Meanwhile, Lovino screamed back at the Asian student, flipping him off, "You, shut the fuck up, bossy kimchi bastard!"

"No, Natalya, please!" Madeleine ran up to the retreating Belarusian girl. "Please!"

Natalya opened her mouth to respond, but that was when the sound of a piano reached everyone's ears, prompting everyone to stop with what they were doing.

The sound was calm and soothing, but it flowed like a steady yet fast river.

Everyone turned to see that Mitchell was playing while the Seychellois student was giving them all a rather serious look. Madeleine smiled at him gratefully, picked the microphone up from its stand, and ran up to the departing Natalya as Lovino slowly moved back to his spot on the drum kit, drawn in by Mitchell's improvised music.

Madeleine smiled at Natalya who looked back, this time _both _her eyebrows were arched up in pleasant surprise. "Can you see me?"the Canadian girl's voice started out calm and soft to match Mitchell's music as she took hold of Natalya's hand. "'Cause I'm right here

Can you listen? 'Cause I've been trying to make you notice what it would mean to me to feel like somebody. We've been on our way to nowhere, tryin' so hard to get there."

Yong Soo said nothing from his spot on the amp. Madeleine led Natalya back to her spot and gently handed her, her bass. The Belarusian girl put it back on with use of her strap, as Madeleine went over to Lovino, flashing him an encouraging look. The Italian nodded as he continued drumming. Yong Soo himself slowly stood up from his spot and made his way to the group.

"And I say, '_Oh! We're gonna let it show!'_" Madeleine's voice became much stronger once she hit the chorus. Yong Soo then joined in with his own guitar strums, which weren't as loud and blaring like before while Madeleine went over to Mitchell and gave him an appreciative look as she swayed in time with the music. She then went to the centre and sang as Yong Soo grinned, joining in a few times.

"We're gonna just let go of everything holding back our dreams and try to make it come alive. C'mon let it shine so they can see we were meant to be somebody!"

"Somebody," Yong Soo's voice was quite low and hum-like.

"Somebody, yeah!"Madeleine beamed at the Korean boy joining.

Yong Soo nodded, "Somebody."

"Somehow, some day, some way, somebody," Madeleine then lowered her voice again, making it soft. Likewise, the instruments also lowered themselves in volume, to match her. "I'm so tired of being invisible. But I feel it, yeah like a fire below the surface. Trying to set me free. Burnin' inside of me. 'Cause we're standing on the edge now. It's a long way down…"

What the students were unaware of however, was that outside, Mr Machado was listening in on the newly formed band's practice session. After flinching and recoiling at the arguing at first, when they _finally _began to perform together, the Cuban man started swaying his body, and soon started dancing wildly as he observed the band from outside. He bumped into something slightly bulky, which caused him to jump up in shock. Startled, he saw Anya smiling at him. The Russian girl peered through the glass panel and her smile grew wider when she saw the band performing.

Madeleine then looked at Mitchell and urged him to sing as the chorus approached, Yong Soo, too. The Seychellois boy was shaking his head, feeling a bit shy, but when he looked up, he felt more self-conscious when he saw his best friend staring back, smiling. He shrugged but Anya smiled and gave an encouraging nod. The Seychellois student then felt his tanned face redden, but gave another shrug and filled in Yong Soo's place.

"But I say, _'Oh! We're gonna let it show!_'"

"Let it show!"called Mitchell as he continued playing chords.

"We're gonna just let go of everything holding back our dreams, and try to make it come alive!" Madeleine raised her arm up as her voice became more passionate and stronger. "C'mon let it shine so they can see we were meant to be somebody!"

"Somebody," Mitchell shook his head as he shut his eyes.

"Somebody, yeah,"Madeleine sighed.

"Somebody,"agreed Mitchell.

"Somehow, some day, some way, somebody,"Madeleine then had a more serious look on her face as she got more and more into the song. She closed her lightly coloured eyes as she then gripped the microphone with both hands, face filled with soft and sincere emotions as was her beautiful voice.

"Hells yeah," Yong Soo couldn't help but smile to himself upon seeing the Canadian girl emerge from her shy shell and get into the performance.

"We will walk out of this darkness and feel the spotlight glowing like a yellow sun," declared Madeleine. _"Ohohohohoh…"_

"Ohohohohoh," echoed Mitchell.

"And when we fall, we fall together," Madeleine found herself blush and smile a little when Yong Soo joined in on her with that single line. The Korean boy however nodded encouragingly in her direction to continue without his vocal assistance since it was obvious that she was strong enough to handle it on her own.

"'Til we get back up and we will rise as one. Ohohohohoh!"

"Oh! We're gonna let it show!" called Natalya, this time unafraid of putting herself into the performance, since it was going along better.

"Let it show!" Madeleine was a little surprised, but she smiled at seeing the Belarusian girl get more into the practice herself.

"We're gonna just let go of everything holding back our dreams and try!"

"Try!" Madeleine's voice was strong as she made a few impressive runs before hitting the precise note.

"To make it come alive."

"Make it come alive."

"C'mon let it shine so they can see we were meant to be…"

"Somebody!"Madeleine called, grasping at her chest.

"Somebody," murmured Yong Soo as he shook his head; smiling while he absorbed more of the music as it reached its conclusion.

"Somebody, yeah."

"Somebody."

"Somehow, some day, some way, somebody," Madeleine's voice was strong, but upon reaching the final words, became much softer. "Somebody, ohh…"

Once the conclusion was finally met and the instruments' sounds all melted to a lovely ending, everyone felt an exhilaration that couldn't be explained at all just like their first time where they played around in detention together. Everyone was smiling (even Lovino) and they felt rather pumped and energized. Mitchell looked at the door and saw Anya giving him a thumbs-up before disappearing.

But not before giving a thumbs-up himself, which caused the Russian girl to flush slightly and smile widely.

Yong Soo grinned at Madeleine. "Hey Maddie! Did you seriously write that?"

Madeleine nodded, her cheeks a little rosy red, but she had a big smile on her face and nodded at the Korean student.

Yong Soo rejoiced, "That was _epic_, da ze! Hey, guys!" when everyone turned their attention onto the Korean boy, Yong Soo declared, "We are _so_ ready to get that record deal, da ze!" he high-fived with Madeleine.

* * *

That night, Madeleine's parents were out, so she was forced by her brother (who begged her even when the poor girl was washing up in the bathroom) to come and watch him and _his_ band perform.

Of course, Madeleine didn't mind ever going to Alfred's band practices; she went there many times before, however, that night, she couldn't help but feel so worried and nervous. Her brother was stubborn and (she had to admit) rather spoilt. And if he learned of Madeleine's own band having a turn in the Halloween Bash that would take place later that year, too; he'd become upset with her.

He loved the spotlight being centred on him, after all.

Though admittedly, Madeleine wanted that spotlight to shine on her for once…

Madeleine tried to push the feelings out of her stomach but it just came back full force and it made the blonde hug Kumarie even tighter.

"Hello, Madeleine," a voice spoke up, catching the girl's attention.

Madeleine turned around and came face-to-face with a familiar face with dark green eyes, messy yellow blonde hair, bushy eyebrows and a small smile in greeting. The boy was slightly taller than Madeleine, but he looked older and was wearing a sleeveless shirt that resembled the Union Jack as well as skinny black jeans and red sneakers

"It's been a while since you came to our performances," the older boy smiled. "How have you been?"

"I'm doing fine, Arthur," Madeleine said, a smile spreading onto her face, the knots in her stomach slowly unwinding.

Arthur was hers and Alfred's older cousin (on their father's side) and a senior (so therefore with the Bad Touch Trio). He was polite and gentlemanly to people he liked, however, if annoyed, he would be highly sarcastic and his tongue was acidic. He was also interested in (what Madeleine thought) more sophisticated and slightly old-fashioned things like tea and reading, but had (in Madeleine's opinion) homely hobbies such as sewing and cooking, though he was very horrible at the latter.

Arthur was a lovely friend but a terrifying enemy.

"How are your studies coming along, then?" Arthur asked as he took a seat, patting a spot next to him as he prepared his guitar. He loved both his cousins dearly, but in truth, Madeleine was more pleasant to talk to; the girl was a very good listener and when she was encouraged, actually made very good conversation.

"Just fine," Madeleine plopped on the seat next to her cousin. "How about you? It's your final year at World Peace Academy."

Arthur gave a weary sigh, "I know…it's been hard but well, I deal with it. Though, I do wonder how chaps like Mitchell Mancham and Anya Braginskaya ever manage to finish their work in such a way that they have enough time for three clubs."

Madeleine's violet-blue eyes grew wide from behind her glasses. "_Three_? Really? Wow…"

"I know," Arthur scratched his head, face thoughtful. "It's beyond me how they're able to manage that with the amount of work they get since they're both in AP classes…"

"Do you know what kind of activities they do?" Madeleine inquired, now thoroughly interested about the odd duo.

Arthur sat in a thinking position as he rubbed at his chin now. "Well…I'm not quite sure what Anya is into, but I do know that Mitchell had once been part of the Swim Team; he was one of the best from what I heard."

"Why did he quit?" Madeleine asked, intrigued.

"I'm not quite sure, really," Arthur scowled more out of thought than annoyance, but shrugged. "I'm sure he had his reasons, though. Anyway, he's also in the Dance Club from next door to my Cooking Club. He's very good from what I've heard."

"What does Morgan expect me to do?" snapped a voice nearby. Madeleine turned her head to see that Alfred looked really upset about something. "Jump up and down like _'oh! I get to play half of _my_ set_?!'"

"What's that about?" Madeleine asked, the knots in his stomach returning.

Arthur looked up with a now bored expression on his face. "It's nothing, really," he said coolly as he tuned his guitar. "Don't worry about it, Madeleine." Upon seeing his younger cousin's face, Arthur shook his head and flashed her a reassuring smile. "No, don't worry about it, really."

"Please, just tell me about it."

Arthur gave a sigh, "Morgan told us that we won't get the full set in the Halloween Bash." The knots in Madeleine's stomach tightened even more as her older cousin continued, "You know that new boy, Yong Soo, right? The wanker who started the riot days ago?" upon seeing Madeleine's small nod, he resumed. "Apparently he told Mr Morgan that he has a band."

Madeleine was about to say something, until Alfred chose to come over, looking outraged. "Did you hear that Artie?" he seethed. "What the hell is that new kid trying to do?!"

Arthur sighed, "Well, so what? We're obviously not the only ones who can play an instrument, you twit. But it _does_ surprise me that another band finally chooses to come out now after all this time…led by a new student of all people! It _is_ a tad unusual…"

"You know what else I heard? Mr Machado is in on this, too!" Alfred said. "That son of a bitch!"

Madeleine felt her ears grow red and she cleared her throat before choosing to speak up, "Well, Mr Machado _is_ a really talented music teacher…"

"Yeah, whatever," Alfred interrupted. Madeleine frowned as her brother spoke to their cousin, "This band has _half_ our stage time now, and it's driving us all nuts!"

"In case you haven't noticed, _I'm _not going nuts and I'm pretty sure that Toris isn't going bloody nuts, either," the English youth arched his head and looked pointedly in a certain direction where a boy with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes was just walking around backstage. "And don't call me Artie."

"That's not the freaking same, man! You _should_ be worrying! Seriously! Geez, Artie…"

"I told you not to bloody call me that, you git!" Arthur snapped, nostrils flaring as Alfred ran up to Toris. The older blonde shook his head. "Bloody twit…"

"Um…so Yong Soo's in this band…" Madeleine said awkwardly, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"Pretty much so," Arthur said nonchalantly.

"Do you know…do you know who else is in this band that Yong Soo formed?"

Arthur's eyes gazed up and he shrugged, "Nope, I don't know…probably just a bunch of nobodies."

Madeleine felt her heart sink at hearing the last remark made by her cousin and debated whether or not she would tell Arthur about her being part of Yong Soo's band. Arthur noticed the worried look on his younger cousin's face and spoke up, "Madeleine, are you alright there?" he stood up and felt the younger girl's forehead. "Your temperature's normal…so, what's the matter?"

The bespectacled blonde swallowed the lump in her throat and finally spoke. "I-It's…it's me…" she spluttered out.

"Pardon?" Arthur arched a bushy eyebrow, not knowing what she was talking about.

"I'm…I'm in that band," explained Madeleine, her hold on Kumarie tighter than before. "I sing."

"You're joking, right?"

Madeleine visibly flinched, but continued, "N-no, Arthur, I'm not. Actually, we all met in detention." Seeing the sceptical look on her cousin's face, Madeleine added, "We're only just opening for you…"

After a moment of silence, to Madeleine's surprise, Arthur burst into laughter and shook his head then wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Look, Madeleine; if you want to be in a band, then go for it! I'm quite happy for you – you're an _exceptional _singer. I'm starting to wonder what you guys really sound like, just be careful of that new boy, though, okay?" Arthur's face became serious. "I don't want you to be involved with his delinquent tendencies."

Madeleine felt the knots unwind again and sighed in relief. She came closer and leaned her head on her cousin's shoulder. "Thank you so much, Arthur," she murmured. "I just…I hope that Alfred will be as accepting as you are."

Arthur sighed, "Let _me_ talk to him, okay? I think he and Kai will take the news much harder than Toris. Or…do you feel comfortable in telling him yourself?"

In all truth, Madeleine knew that it would be better to tell her brother that she was in Yong Soo's band, but she began shaking her head, feeling rather scared particularly when Alfred was ranting about it as Toris and (when did he come?) Kai were listening closely.

"Come on! I mean that band is taking up _half_ our night for us!" Alfred said, fuming.

"Yeah I know!" Kai agreed. "What the hell's up with that?!"

"Um…" Madeleine fidgeted in her spot and looked at the ground. Arthur was about to ask if she was feeling okay, but the Canadian girl spoke, "I think…I think I'm gonna go now…thanks for understanding, Arthur…"

Arthur was about to call his cousin to come back, but decided against it; Madeleine preferred clearing her mind alone. When Madeleine was fully gone, the British student chose this time to confront his band mates. "Since when was the Halloween Bash _our_ night?" he inquired, annoyed that Alfred's outburst had caused an effect on Madeleine.

"Since when has it not?" Alfred asked, irritated that Arthur was (seemingly) acting so ignorant. "I mean, it's _our_ music! And music's important to us! It's important to you, too, right Artie?"

"Quit calling me with that blasted name! And yes, of course our music is important to me," Arthur said rubbing his head. "But maybe…maybe Yong Soo's band's music is important to _them_, too."

Alfred and Kai cracked up laughing while Toris stood there, giving them a worried glance. "Yeah, right!" Alfred snorted and rubbed at his eye. "I'm sure it is. Anyway, we're taking that stupid band down one way or another! That'll show that bastard, Yong Soo!"

Arthur shook his head as the audience was cheering for them, chanting their name and demanding for them to appear. "Never mind, we're up…"

* * *

Madeleine's heart was racing and she felt sick. Alfred's words were still ringing in her ears and she desperately needed to go somewhere away from there.

She didn't know how far she was walking, but as she looked at her watch, it read sever thirty-one. Sighing, she then felt the knots shudder and shake as her stomach gave a loud rumble.

Blushing, Madeleine realized she hadn't eaten dinner; she was supposed to join her brother, cousin and their band later after the gig was finished. Looking around, Madeleine saw a WacRonald's nearby and with a shrug, decided to go inside.

As the bell tinkled and she shut the door behind her, she heard someone say, "Hey look! It's Birdie! How you doing!"

Madeleine knew straight away to whom the voice belonged to, and wasn't surprised to see Gilbert on a booth alone on one side with Francis and Antonio together on the other.

"Ah, Madeleine!" Francis beamed upon seeing her. "_Ma chére, _you will join us, no?"

"Um," Madeleine wanted to join, but her words were stumbling on her tongue as everyone smiled at her. She felt like she didn't belong there; they were all seniors after all, and she just wasn't that sociable, outgoing or popular and well-liked like them, either. "I…I don't want to intrude on you guys…"

"Intrude? No way!" Antonio piped up, grinning. "Come on, _mi amiga_! Join us! You look so lonely!"

"Yeah!" Gilbert took his legs off the booth he was on and patted the seat. "You're cool enough to sit with the epitome of awesomeness!"

Madeleine's cheeks were dusted scarlet at being called _'cool'_ and after some more encouraging, finally chose to sit next to her French cousin's friend, to which the other two were cheering.

"Now that that is done, we will order now!" Francis said, smiling. He began calling on a clerk who was scribbling things down on a notepad with other customers. "Waiter! Oh, waiter! Come here, _s'il vous plait_!"

The _"waiter"_, who was wearing the standard McDonald's uniform along with the hat, suddenly froze where he was. Madeleine wondered what was wrong with the clerk but another came to them, a girl. The bespectacled blonde tried to keep the other clerk in view as the clerk that was with them now was taking their orders.

"Hi! Welcome to WacRonald's! How may I take your order?" the female clerk smiled at them, though Madeleine could plainly see a blush on her cheeks.

"Hmm…would you happen to be on that menu, _ma chére_?" Francis asked in a seductive yet soft voice. The female clerk squealed as Gilbert gave a loud laugh along with Antonio.

"Damn Franny! Keep it in your pants, you horn dog!" Gilbert teased. "Well, I'm ordering first, then 'cause I know what I want! I'll have a Grand Angus, 6-pack nuggets, large fries, large coke and a strawberry crumble WacFlurry, please."

"You must be dying of starvation, _mi amigo_," Antonio said, quite impressed and he laughed at Gilbert's shrug. "Well, I'll have a double cheeseburger, a pack of three nuggets, some regular fries, coke and an apple pie, please."

"You're not that far off from me, man!" Gilbert guffawed as the female clerk was scribbling all of their orders down.

"Would you like some sauce?" she asked the two young men.

Gilbert shook his head but Antonio gasped, "Oh, yeah! Of course! Can't forget the tomato sauce! How could I almost forget?"

"Man, you're obsessed with tomatoes," Gilbert rolled his eyes as he snickered. "Seriously dude."

Antonio grinned in response, "I can't help it; I love growing and eating them."

Francis then smiled at Madeleine, "Would you like to order, _me petite_?"

"Um…" Madeleine fidgeted slightly. "It's okay, you can go first. I still need to think on what to order."

"Alright, then. _Ma chére_, I will have the seared Caesar wrap as well as some water, regular fries and a chocolate sundae."

"Whoa!" Gilbert had a look of exaggerated shock on his face. "Francy-pants is actually ordering dessert?! Someone call the force!"

Antonio cracked up laughing and even Madeleine couldn't help but give a giggle as Francis flushed. "What the hell are you talking about, Gilbert?" he snapped. "I eat dessert when I want!"

"Sorry, Francis, _mi amigo_," Antonio wiped a tear from his eye. "But you're always so health conscious that it came off as a bit of a shock."

"Seriously you two," Francis rolled his eyes then his face broke into a kind smile again as he urged Madeleine to order. "Come now, _me petite_, it is your turn to order to this beautiful young lady."

The female clerk giggled even more and gave Madeleine an encouraging smile. The blonde felt her face heat up as everyone looked at her. "Um…um…" she stuttered, hugging Kumarie close to herself. "I-I'll have the WacChicken with regular fries, Sprite and a soft serve cone, please…"

"Boo, you're like Francy-pants," Gilbert said, dismayed. "Damn! We should hang out so hopefully my awesome taste in food will rub off on ya!"

"Her appetite is fine enough," Francis snapped, reaching over the table and patting Madeleine's shoulder. "Your figure is important as well as your health."

"_Sí_, health is very important," Antonio nodded.

"And that is part of the reason why my cousin is very adorable, too!"

Madeleine saw the clerk that Francis caused to freeze again and didn't pay attention to everything else. Antonio, Francis and Gilbert were taking their money out and already paying when Madeleine realized who the clerk was.

The dark brown hair, the olive complexion and the curl were just so unmistakeable.

"Lovino?" Madeleine wondered.

The said Italian froze again and slowly turned his head around, meeting the blonde's violet-blue eyes. Madeleine waved at him, the Italian returned it rather hesitantly and put a finger to his lips and frantically shook his head, obviously not wanting the Bad Touch Trio to realize his existence.

Madeleine nodded in understanding, though she had no idea why Lovino didn't want them to notice him. It also kind of boggled her that the Italian would work in a place like this – he would always use to bad mouth about burgers and fries before; calling them greasy and disgusting…

By the time the female clerk left, Madeleine then realized that the trio had paid already. "Oh no! I haven't put up my share!" she said, panicked.

"Why? We wanted to pay," Antonio said simply.

"But I couldn't possibly just sit here and let the three of you pay for a meal of four!"

"No, no, you are our honoured guest, _me petite_," Francis shook his head and waved a dismissive hand. "We are treating you out."

"But…" Madeleine bit her bottom lip, feeling guilty until Gilbert shook his head and patted the blonde's head.

"Look, Birdie; don't worry about it! We _wanted_ to treat you out and just as Francy-pants said; you're our awesome guest!" Gilbert looked smug. "That makes the meal even more awesome, right? Cause we paid for it."

Francis gave his silver-haired friend a sharp look as Madeleine just felt even more terrible. Realizing that it was a poor choice of words, Gilbert sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and suddenly caught sight of something that intrigued him. "Hey, look! Look over there!" he pointed.

Antonio and Francis whipped around and Madeleine looked up, wondering if Gilbert had finally caught sight of Lovino. But to her shock, it wasn't Lovino that Gilbert had found. It was…

"Hey, isn't that Anya and Mitchell?" Antonio questioned.

Madeleine blinked and gazed hard at the scene before her and the trio. Anya Braginskaya and Mitchell Mancham were sharing a Family Value Deluxe Dinner. Mitchell was laughing at something that the Russian had apparently said and dipped one of his fries into a packet of (what looked like) sweet and sour sauce while Anya had a content smile on her own face and took a bite of her burger. They both looked to be in happy spirits.

"Wonder what they're doing," Gilbert scratched his head.

"Probably just hanging out like I am right now with _mi amigos_," Antonio grinned, feeling warm and fluffy at seeing the pleasant sight before him.

Before anyone else could respond to the Spanish boy's statement, all of a sudden, Mitchell had leaned over the table and stuck out two pieces of fries that were dipped in the sweet sauce. Anya leaned her head a bit and took the fries in her mouth, chewing and swallowing them.

Mitchell gave a cheeky grin, "How did that taste? The sweet and sour sauce isn't _that _bad, right?"

Anya nodded, though Madeleine could see a blush spread on the Russian girl's pale face. "_Da_, it actually tasted _very_ good," she agreed.

Madeleine felt a little shocked at first, seeing the two act in such a manner, but her expression change to one with a soft and fond smile.

"Alright, then! It's your turn, _da_?" Anya then picked up a nugget and dipped it into the sauce. She reached her arm out and fed it to the Seychellois boy.

Once Mitchell swallowed, he licked his lips and nodded, "It's not that horrible!"

"_Da_, it isn't!"

"Whoa," Gilbert's red eyes were bulging, still ogling at the sight. "I did _not_ expect that…"

Francis laughed, "Ahh, but _mon cher_! Love is love! And they're displaying signals that obviously show that it is more than just friends hanging out. No, no, this is _definitely_ a date!"

"Well, who would have thought?" Antonio smiled, still warm and fluffy inside. "Mitchell Mancham and Anya Braginskaya…they make a rather odd couple, don't you think?"

"Indeed, but are they not cute together?" Francis said, clasping his hands together and sighing. "Ahh _l'amour_…so beautiful!"

Gilbert then snapped out of his dumbfounded look and ran a hand through his silver hair. "Eh, more like beauty and the beast…with _her _as the beast," he grunted.

When seeing Mitchell and Anya constantly feed each other, Madeleine then began to silently envy them. She wished that she had someone to do that to, someone to share such an experience with. All of a sudden, she could remember their practice before that day; Lovino had almost left practice had it not been for Mitchell's intervention.

She couldn't help but turn her head to look at the Italian boy while he was at work, scribbling hurriedly on his little notepad as he rushed off.

Madeleine felt her face grow hot as she shook her head and clung onto Kumajirou. Why was she thinking of that? Why was she thinking of Lovino? He was just her band mate after all, and they barely knew each other. Plus, he was so foul-tempered and had a trucker's mouth equipped, too.

But on the other hand, the Canadian girl had the feeling that he wasn't _really _like that from the inside out…

By the time that the food arrived and everyone was settling in on their respective meals, Mitchell and Anya were now eating dessert, both had a WacFlurry while there was a lone apple pie on the table. Suddenly, as Anya scooped up some of the ice-cream with blue sauce, she got some stuck onto her cheek. The sight got a chuckle out of Mitchell who put his WacFlurry down.

"What is wrong?" Anya asked, confused.

"Hold still," Mitchell leaned over and wiped off the bit of ice-cream with a serviette. "You had some of your ice-cream on your face."

"Oh," Anya's cheeks grew pinker and she gave the Seychellois boy a loving look. "_Spasibo_,that was very kind of you."

"No problem."

"Oh, so sweet," Francis sighed. "Such sweetness. _L'amour _is just so beautiful and the biggest beauty of it is that it can happen to anyone! I wonder how long they've been doing this for."

* * *

_Yes, the story's main couples are RomaCan and SeyRus. The BTT also appear as major supporting characters and they get a funny part themselves and actually _do _get involved several times. :)_

_Also, I'm actually writing up a new story - **Little Plum Blossom**. It's more of a Family/Friendship fic, and it's inspired by the book, __**Heidi**_. _With chibi!Taiwan as Heidi and Nyo!Vietnam as the Alm-Uncle (he _literally _is her uncle in this context, though. XD)_

_Thoughts and opinions if you want. Have a nice day. :DDD  
_

_Sincerely,  
HetaWriter/HetaReader_


	10. Soda Tongue: How They Got Their Name

_More **Soda Tongue**. :)_

_Thanks to **Ayumi Kudou **and **Guest **for the reviews! :D_

**_Ayumi Kudou:_**_ I quite like RomaCan no matter what they are, really. Hetalia or Nyotalia :) SeyRus I can only like if they're both Nyotalia, sadly. ^_^' thank you, whenever I write, I think hard on the characterizations so I can make them believable. :D haha, yeah Macau always reminded me of Kyouya except he's more "motherly" than him. XD the Nyo!Macau = Nyo!Thailand reminds me of an incident where a bunch of butt-hurt Piri-chan fans were pissed off at a picture labelled Asia3 because they thought it was the Philippines, but Himaruya confirmed that it was of Vietnam. I don't bother if it's Pangaea or Antarctica. _

**_Guest:_**_ Honestly, this was before I had 2P's as villains, so Alfred was _somewhat _like one, but he reforms, anyway. XD yeah, I love RomaCan! It's becoming one of my more favourite ships. :) SeyRuss I can only support if it's Nyotalia, sadly...^_^'_

_______****__Piece Title:__ Soda Tongue [How They Got Their Name]  
**Chapter No.: **5  
**Rating:** T (swearing)  
__**Warning: **Human AU, Nyotalia, 2Ptalia  
__**Pairing/s: **N/A  
__**Chapter Summary: **After the success of their first band practice and continue it for a little while, word spreads however that Yong Soo and his band are going to perform later in the Halloween Bash, which is labelled as one of_ _the _biggest_________ events in the year besides the Christmas Pageant and Talent Quest as well. However, when Madeleine confides in Lovino for help and the two try to be helpful Samaritans to Leon, a lonely prodigy, things take a rather interesting turn into what the band's name should be.  
__________**Inspiration/s: **Lemonade Mouth__________  
_

* * *

At school the next day, Yong Soo, who was walking with Mitchell, was given strange looks by everyone. He began to feel a little weird at the stares, especially when two of the cheerleaders were laughing at his face, causing him to arch his eyebrow. "What's going on, _hyeong_?" he asked the Seychellois boy.

Mitchell shook his head and sighed as he was placing his Physics book back into his dolphin bag. "It's World Class Act," the Seychellois student explained to the new Korean student. "They're mad we get a part of their show."

Yong Soo however didn't seem to see the problem. "So?" he questioned, with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

"_So_?" Mitchell arched an eyebrow at the Korean boy. "They're the group that are on the pedestal of this school; the pride of Grand World High. Or simply put: the popular crowd in those cheap and cheesy American high school dramas and stories."

"What are we, then?"

"We're the underdogs; the persistent nobodies who want to be heard."

"Sweet, da ze!" Yong Soo grinned instead and chuckled when the Seychellois boy patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"Glad to see you taking it better than I thought, but don't worry, anyway. Just ignore them. After you," Mitchell motioned to the elevator to the basement, which opened.

Yong Soo smiled at him, but at that very moment, he realized something was off. He wasn't sure _what_ was wrong at first, then realized that Mitchell had been walking with him alone the whole time. "Hey, wait a sec, where's Anya?" he inquired.

Mitchell sighed, "We went to WacRonald's last night for dinner, but her Big Wac didn't seem to agree with her stomach. I can't understand why; mine tasted just fine…but I guess it's just dumb luck…next time; I don't think we'll be eating at WacRonald's; we're still not so sure just what exactly is _in _the food."

"Yeah," Yong Soo's face was sympathetic. "Getting an upset stomach from WacRonald's…you're better off trying kimchi."

"I'm sure she's just fine, though," Mitchell beamed. "She texted me and said she was tired from puking, but okay. Plus, she's had _worse_ sicknesses than just a simple stomach bug. She's survived diarrhoea, mumps and even chickenpox."

"Wow," Yong Soo's eyes were huge, reminding Mitchell of a deer caught in headlights. The Seychellois student patted the Korean's head, as the pair made their way to the detention room, which now provided as their practice room and a sort of headquarters for them. Mitchell and Yong Soo first obtained their respective _'Nyu Cream Soda'_ (Lime and Mango respectively) and entered.

Inside, Madeleine and Natalya were already waiting, also with _'Nyu Cream Soda'_, but they had different ones (Grape and Strawberry respectively). Lovino came in five minutes later and was guzzling down a Lemon _'Nyu Cream Soda'_.

Mitchell chuckled, "I see we all have our own official, honorary badges."

"Yeah," Yong Soo nodded his head, licking his lips. He then got up and raised his bottle. "We're subterranean and we're _awesome, _da ze!"

He was met by a chorus of agreement as everyone raised their drinks in toast. They then drank at the same time as well as a flushing sound occurring over their heads; they all laughed and gagged in response to the sound.

Meanwhile, in a Chemistry lab, a certain albino Prussian was conducting a dangerous experiment with his bubble-headed Spanish partner. However, he gave a sneeze and so as a result, dropped the whole test tube of chemicals on the Bunsen burner.

Screams were heard from a distance

"Alright," Yong Soo clapped his hands and rubbed them together as he sat on the teacher's desk. "Now first order of business: we need a band name. For the flyers and stuff like that."

Everyone began to think of a name to use that could describe themselves for their band. Madeleine then spoke up, "How about…how about Soul Group?"

"Nah…" everyone shook their heads at that, and Madeleine nodded in agreement, a bit embarrassed; it _did_ sound kind of lame.

"The Anarchist?" Natalya suggested.

"That's not so bad," Mitchell said.

"I don't know what that really means, though…" Yong Soo added sheepishly.

Mitchell explained with a smile, "An anarchist is just a fancy word to describe a rebel or a revolutionary."

"Anarchists are also nihilistic losers who have no life," Lovino added darkly.

"Anarchist!" Yong Soo motioned his arms out, hands open as he made a banner-like movement. "Da ze!"

Everyone shook their heads then, agreeing that the name may be too complicated for people to perceive. Madeleine then stood up, "I'm gonna go get another mango cream soda," she said, running to the door.

"Hold on, I've got a name, let me get it," Mitchell was taking out a folder with the picture of two whips in a coat-of-arms was. He shuffled through his notes and finally found it. "Aha! Here it is…_Mitchell_."

"You're fucking kidding me, right?" Lovino said, rolling his eyes.

Mitchell then spoke up with a laugh, "Come on! It's the whole one name shit, you know like…" he took a sip of his soda. "Like Bon Jovi."

"Or Cher," Yong Soo added, snickering at the joke.

"Back off the bash!" Madeleine's voice spoke up as she hurriedly ran back into the room.

"What kind of a band name is that?" questioned Lovino. "No offense, but that sounds like absolute shit."

"No, no," Madeleine shook her head, looking utterly terrified, causing her bandmates to pay closer attention. "This was taped onto the door." She rose up a sheet of paper that had the words, _"BACK OFF THE BASH OR __ELSE__!" _in red marker.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the piece of paper. Yong Soo scratched his head, Madeleine bit her bottom lip in worry, and Mitchell had an uneasy look on his face while Lovino grabbed the paper and scrunched it up.

"Those bitches _cannot_ be fucking serious!"

* * *

In the cafeteria, Madeleine sat with her brother who was happily munching away at a hamburger. The younger blonde adjusted her glasses, "Al…you didn't call me back from last night…"

"Sorry, Maddie," Alfred chomped down, his mouth full of food. "I've just been distracted and well, Artie told me that you slept over at Francis' and he dropped you off, so what's the big deal?"

"You've been busy…really?" Madeleine asked, scowling slightly. "With what?"

"Band rehearsals, soccer and basketball practice," Alfred raised up three fingers and took a sip from his soda. "I mean, you know how it is, right, Maddie?"

Madeleine said nothing as she folded her arms on the table; she wanted to tell Alfred about being in Yong Soo's band again, but didn't want her older brother's temper to flare at her, either. Alfred didn't like Yong Soo much at all, thinking that the new Korean boy was cramping his _'style'._

"Well, I gotta go, see ya, Maddie!" Alfred grinned as he picked up his lunch and soda. "I'll call you later!"

"_Sure_ you will," Madeleine grumbled in sarcasm as her brother left, however, Alfred didn't hear her. She sighed as she laid her head on her arms, feeling hopeless, everyone talking animatedly while she was alone and invisible. She was starting to feel the long bouts of loneliness finally eating at her insides…

"Hey, anyone sitting there?"

Madeleine almost fell off her seat and frantically looked up, surprised to see Lovino peering down at her with an arched eyebrow. The blonde straightened herself up, "O-Oh no! You can sit there, Lovino." She was shocked that the Italian had even noticed her.

Lovino gave a grunt and plopped himself across from the blonde Canadian girl. He took out his fork and a container filled with ravioli, and began eating, enjoying the silence hanging between them and glad that he was able to enjoy his food for once without interruption. After a while, Lovino noticed that his companion had a rather sad expression, making the Italian frown; that look reminded him of his little brother when he was worried over stupid things. Lovino didn't like that look. Also, girls shouldn't be upset, in his opinion.

"Something up? You look kinda down…"

"Um…i-it's nothing," Madeleine said, not wanting to bother the Italian. "I'm fine, really. Just go back to eating."

Lovino rolled his eyes, "Bullshit; now tell me what's with that sad face of yours…"

Madeleine really didn't want to bother Lovino, but she needed some advice on what to do with Alfred. The blonde surveyed the Italian in front of her, who was chomping on his ravioli with a scowl on his face. Madeleine came to the conclusion that although Lovino had a trucker's mouth and was as impulsive as her brother, his opinions were honest no matter how blunt they were, and Madeleine needed an honest opinion right now.

He was also quite good-looking, too…

"Is there something on my face?"

Madeleine shook her head, flushing at what had suddenly gotten over her. "Sorry!" she apologized, then leaned closer, "Um, it's just that…I kinda do have a problem…"

"Well, what is it?" Lovino asked as he stabbed at his ravioli and brought it to his mouth. "I'll listen…"

"Well, it's to do with Alfred…"

Lovino paused. He gave Madeleine a look, "Fine…what about that fucking moron?"

"Well, it's just that you and I know that he's part of World Class Act…and…"

"_And_-?"

"I went to his gig last night and he was really upset about Yong Soo starting our band and getting us to perform at the Halloween Bash."

Lovino coughed on his piece of ravioli and began punching at his gut. This worried Madeleine a lot, "L-Lovino! Are you alright?"

"F-fine! I'm fine, dammit…" Lovino spluttered. "You…you told him you were part of the band?" Lovino inquired, now feeling awkward. "What…what did he say?"

"Actually," Madeleine flushed. "He doesn't know I'm in Yong Soo's band. The only thing he knows is that it's Yong Soo's band and that's it…he doesn't know of anyone else in it but Yong Soo himself."

Lovino rolled his eyes as he took out his _Nyu _lemon cream soda and took a sip. "Your brother's a fucking moron _and _a baby," he said. "I see your problem, though; you're scared to tell him that you're in Yong Soo's band."

Madeleine looked down, feeling ashamed, "I told my cousin, Arthur though…"

Lovino almost choked on his drink. "Wait! You're cousins with that bushy-browed_ tea-sucker_?"

Madeleine gave a nod, now fearing for Lovino's health if she spoke any further. The Italian scratched his head, and felt like smacking himself; how could he _not_ have seen that before? "Damn…well, how'd _he_ take it?"

"Arthur was quite accepting actually," Madeleine responded, still not believing that. "He told me that he'll talk to Alfred about it, but I don't know when; he's a senior and he's so busy with work and the band and…"

"I get it, I get it already," Lovino put his hands up and rubbed his temple. "Really, there's two solutions to this problem: one, you let your bushy-browed bastard cousin tell your fucked up brother that you're in the kimchi bastard's band. Or two, _you_ do it yourself and tell your fucked up brother that you're in the kimchi bastard's band. Either way, that burger eating fatass is going to find out from someone somehow sooner or later. Think of it this way; is it gonna hurt him as fuck more if _you_ say it or if your tea-sucking _cousin_ says it?"

Madeleine remained silent, pondering about what Lovino had just told her. Minus all the vulgar language that the Italian had spouted, Lovino had a valid point: Alfred was going to eventually find out, and who would cause more pain in telling her brother that she was in Yong Soo's band; her or Arthur?

"So…?" Lovino was absentmindedly playing with his ravioli and tilted his head, curl bouncing slightly. "What are you gonna do about it, _signorina_?"

Madeleine reddened at being addressed as such, but knew that the Italian tended to address all females in that way. He was nice to women, she noticed, but rather rude and mean to men. "Um…w-well…" she was about to tell Lovino what she thought would be better when the Italian suddenly perked up and glared at a direction.

"Hold on…look over there…"

The shy blonde turned her head around to look what Lovino was looking at.

* * *

In the cafeteria, Leon was trying hard to ignore all of the snickers and weird looks that he was getting. He had attended this school for a year, and yet couldn't help but still not get used to feeling out of place there. He hurriedly made his way to one of the vending machines that distributed the _'Turbo Booster'_ energy drinks that he kept hearing the Principal talk about. He never tried it before, and he was curious as to what it tasted like.

Taking out a little panda purse, he took out the necessary number of coins and inserted them into the machine. Once the drink came tumbling out, he carefully took it out of the machine, only for a hand to grab it away from him.

"Thanks, my favourite," one of the cheerleaders grinned down at him through glossed lips.

Leon backed off; he never liked the cheerleaders as he saw how cruel they were to everyone else but their own kind and the jocks. He knew that they would look on him, thinking that he was a freak, but still at the same time, try and hide that behind plastic masks to use him, by using their dangerous feminine charms.

Wang Leon was a prodigy; he skipped middle school at the age of thirteen and went straight to high school. She was turning fifteen this year, and he wanted to survive for that.

"Hey, what're you doing around by yourself?" one of the jocks suddenly leaned against him and pressed his body close to his.

Leon felt an unpleasant shiver run down his spine, and backed off again. Inwardly, he was startled, but he didn't dare show it out on his face – if there was one thing he knew, it was to _never _show them you were afraid.

That would just make you easy prey.

However, it was so hard – especially because of that look that this taller, more muscular boy was giving him; his eyes were worse than that of Russian girl, Anya Braginskaya, in his opinion.

"Come on, kid! How's about you and I have a little party somewhere private?" Leon wasn't sure if the words were meant to be insults that were trying to stunt at his masculinity, or if the other boy actually meant that, but either way, the Asian boy was getting uncomfortable with that arm that was also wrapped around his waist.

"Really, Alex?" one of the cheerleaders (Leon never bothered to remember their names) pouted. "Before us?"

"I'll test him out for you ladies first," the jock gave a dark grin as he loomed over Leon and whispered in his ear. "Am I right?"

Leon finally found his voice again, shivering in disgust, "Get off…" he mumbled. "I have to go somewhere…"

"Where to, exactly?"

"Anywhere but here," even in the situation, Leon was still snarky. It was a force of habit though – especially since he grew up with a bunch of goofy siblings.

However, this just seemed to amuse the jock on him.

"Ha! So he's actually got a smart mouth on him; think you're tough shit, then?"

"Just leave me alone," Leon grumbled, having had enough. He began to go on his way, getting out of the jock's grip, but the guy grabbed his wrist.

"Where you going?" the jock laughed. "Come on! You're no fun!"

"Let go before I _make _you," Leon said, now getting irritated. He was trying to tug his wrist away from him, but he was amazed at how strong it was; just like iron. The Asian boy so _badly _wanted to kick this guy's ass and hopefully lay in a few punches here or there, but he knew that if that ever happened, then his father would most likely scream at him for it.

"What the hell's going on here?"

"Leave him alone!"

Leon opened his eyes and saw that two students were now confronting the two cheerleaders and the jock, who still had his grip on him. The Asian boy recognized both figures as two people he had seen before in the basketball stadium – the bespectacled girl with the maple syrup, and the Italian student with the curl who got into trouble and was punished unfairly.

"The hell do you two want? We were just playing around," the jock smirked.

Seeing how uncomfortable the boy looked made Madeleine's blood boil and Lovino to scowl. Neither knew if the jock was playing around or not, but it was obvious that the Asian boy looked creeped out even if he was. The poor thing looked genuinely uncomfortable and this should stop.

"Just leave him alone," Madeleine said, still gazing at the Asian boy. She remembered him when she watched Alfred's basketball practice and finally recognized him.

He was Leon Wang; he was smart enough to attend high school and even Madeleine's AP classes. He was a prodigy, but because he was so young and smart, it made him a bigger outcast than she was. The blonde would know; she always saw him sitting alone in every class, and people avoided him. However, despite that – he always continued on with his head held high, and with the same serious look and focus.

"What did you just say, Maddie?" the jock asked with a nasty grin. "I dare you to repeat that, sweet cheeks."

"Just…just leave him alone," Madeleine said, her soft voice becoming more firm. "You and I both know he doesn't want that."

The jock laughed and rolled his eyes. He suddenly advanced towards the blonde girl, who took a nervous step back, "Or, what? You gonna compensate for him, then?"

Madeleine then felt scared; she never liked confrontation: she was weaker and slower than Alfred. "U-Um…"

"Weren't you gonna make me?" laughed the jock. "So if you're not gonna make me, and he doesn't have the balls to take me, then _who's_ gonna make me?"

"Me, that's fucking who."

All movement stopped and everyone turned to Lovino. He was glaring at the jock with a look that could kill. He stepped in between him and Madeleine, amber eyes alit.

"_You_?" the jock said, thoroughly amused. "Really?"

"Are you fucking retarded?" Lovino snapped, face extremely serious. Madeleine flinched at the curses while Leon's eyes widened a little, so the Italian decided to notch it down. "I'm not joking; I'll _make_ you leave them both alone. The kid's uncomfortable, and don't you _dare _talk to Madeleine like that – she's a decent girl with principles who deserves better treatment!"

"Oh, really now?" with that, the jock released hold of Leon and chose to confront Lovino. He grabbed the Italian's arms, making Lovino suddenly rethink of what he had just said. Nonetheless, seeing Madeleine's face, Lovino glared full on at the jock who had a grip on him, mustering all his strength to give the bravest face he can while inside he was close to crying for help.

"_You're_ gonna make me?"

"How many times do I have to repeat it, bastard?"

"You sure are a potty mouth, Lovino! Maybe a knock or two in it will cure you of that problem!"

"Let him go! Please leave us alone," Madeleine gently pulled Leon towards her.

The jock then chose that time to smirk at Madeleine then at Lovino. He gave a laugh, "Well who would have thought! Maddie loves Lovi~! And Lovi loves Maddie~! Or maybe…that's not the case – maybe you actually want Leon? Am I right? You were probably fucking him in the change rooms – wouldn't surprise me-"

Lovino's eyes bulged: _this_ was the last straw. "_FIGLIO DI PUTTANA_! _VAI A FARTI FOTTERE!_ CHIGIIIII!" he screamed and brought his fist at the boy's smug mouth.

The jock did not expect it whatsoever and found himself almost touching the ground, releasing hold of the Italian who ran over to Madeleine and Leon, the Asian string from at everything in slight shock.

Everyone around meanwhile carefully watched in anticipation.

"You'll fucking _pay_ for that, you bastard!" the jock screamed as he rubbed at his bruised face and stormed up to the trio, enraged.

"Damn it, a bit of help?" Lovino glanced at the bespectacled blonde as everyone else watched now with interest.

Madeleine shook her head, "I'm sorry, Lovino, but I prefer peace, not fighting…"

Lovino cursed to himself, but his shirt was grabbed by the jock who was seething at him. The Italian flinched, "Chigi!"

The jock snarled, "I'll make this quick for you, Lovino, you bastard! Your face is _so_ gonna be screwed up when I'm done with it, mate!"

"I have a better idea."

Just in time, Yong Soo arrived with a mango _Nyu Cream Soda_ in hand. He tapped the taller male on the shoulder.

"What?" demanded the jock who released his hold of Lovino and turned to glare at the new Korean student.

Yong Soo held up a hand to insinuate for a pause. "Hold on a sec," he took a sip of his soda, the yellow gold contents sloshing in his mouth and his cheeks bulging.

The next thing he did caused quite a huge stir in the cafeteria.

With great force and accuracy, Im Yong Soo, the new boy, spat out his soda all over the jock who gave a loud yelp. The liquid shot like a bullet and landed straight in the larger boy's face.

Madeleine gaped at what Yong Soo had just done as was Leon while a number of people were laughing their butts off. Lovino himself was at first shocked, but began cracking up soon after.

The jock of course was furious. "You think this is funny?" he snarled as he grabbed Lovino by his shirt and lifted him up.

"Oh, you want some more of this?" Yong Soo sipped more of his soda and spat again, only this time, it landed at the back of the jock's head who released the Italian by then. He then turned to the cheerleaders and recognized one of them as the same girl who had laughed at his face in the assembly he caused a rally in. "Hey, you want one, too?" he sipped more, ready to spit, causing the girls to squeal and cry at him.

Lovino then quickly rushed forward after being release, and, before the jock could advance on Yong Soo, jumped onto the opponent's back, covering his eyes, causing the huge guy to shout, flail and call the Italian all sorts of names. Yong Soo himself was shocked at what the Italian boy was doing, but quickly side-stepped out of the way once the jock was flailing towards him with Lovino clinging onto his back for dear life.

Leon, who watched in amazement and shock at the whole scene before her, only realized at the split second, that Lovino and the jock were coming towards him. Yong Soo moved out of the way but the girl was for some reason motionless.

"Move, da ze!" Yong Soo shouted. "You'll get crushed!"

Leon didn't know why his body refused to move, but that was when grabbed him, and he found himself with his back on the floor.

"That was so close, are you okay?"

Leon glanced up to see two beautiful violet-blue pools looking down at him in concern. It was then that he realized that the Canadian girl, Madeleine, was right on top of him. He flushed slightly at how close their faces were and at their position.

Madeleine was slightly confused as to why the boy had such an expression at first, but then realized the position they were in. "O-oh!" she gasped and got up quickly. "I'm-I'm sorry." She offered him her hand and helped him up. He dusted herself off as Yong Soo then ran up to the jock and helped Lovino off.

Unfortunately, the jock grabbed poor Lovino by his hood and reared back his fist ready to punch him. Madeleine stepped forward about to do something to help the poor Italian until Yong Soo wrapped his arm around the jock's neck and began giving him a rough noogie much to the Canadian girl's bewilderment.

There were loud chants of names during the whole ordeal as Lovino, the jock and Yong Soo were all yelling, flailing and jostling around. By the time Mitchell arrived with a recently recovered Anya, Mr Morgan chose to arrive at the scene, too, the raucous finally capturing his attention. As soon as he was spotted, the jock released hold of Lovino, but Yong Soo didn't realise that the principal was there until it was too late.

"Mr Im, let go of Mr Kyles right now!" Mr Morgan told the Korean student sharply. Yong Soo obeyed rather hesitantly. As soon as he released, the jock was rubbing at his neck. "Now, what is going on here?" Mr Morgan demanded, going in circles around the group with his scooter.

"I was doing nothing, Mr Morgan, sir!" the jock lied quickly, putting up a hurt face. "And these guys chose to harass me!" he pointed at Lovino and Madeleine. "Soda tongue here!" he grabbed Yong Soo by his arm, who had now picked up his soda to finish it. "Even spat _all _over me!"

"_BUGIARDO_!" Lovino screamed as Madeleine and Leon were protesting as well. "You fucking liar! Chigi!"

"No, he's not!" one of the cheerleaders shouted as well as her friend in agreement.

Screams were erupting from both parties and it not only got Mitchell and Anya confused, but also curious as to what was going on.

"Mr Im and Mr Vargas, in my office _right_ now!"

And that was how the band got their name.

* * *

_There was a segment at the end that I was going to put on what happened to Natalya during the whole thing, but I didn't like it, so I deleted it. However, remember Alfred left a bit early? *w* Leon is actually a major supporting character as well - and he provides as the last piece to the love triangle I put up with Madeleine and Lovino. XD_

_Thoughts and opinions if you want. Have a nice day. :)_

_Sincerely,  
HetaWriter/HetaReader_


	11. Soda Tongue: Rumours & Blooming Feelings

_And again, there's more **Soda Tongue**. XD I think there's about two or three more parts left before it gets moved on to another random piece or idea. :)_

_Anyway, thank you **Ayumi Kudou **for the review. :D_

**_Ayumi Kudou: _**_Yeah, I loved that bit, too - Stella's pretty awesome. 8D well, I saw a couple of them, and I got severely annoyed when a picture had insulted Vietnam and a bunch of fans soon after had insulted Vietnam, too while glorifying their precious Piri-chan. The bright side to this was that the person who made the picture apologized. Those fics that you described, I tend to avoid at all cost while my sister loves to laugh and insult them - her narrations are rather funny, I must admit. ^_^' I despise Mary-Sue's with a passion, and I don't really give much of a damn with Reader x Inserts. My sister reads them, though - and apparently, not _all _of them are bad. She's showed me a few that she likes, and I'm interested with them - she loves reading ones with Spain, and she's showed me a Male!Teacher x Spain, as well as a Snake!Reader x Mouse!Spain (the latter actually makes me inspired to expand on that by using Nyo!Vietnam instead of the reader, but I'm not really sure - I still have a bunch of other stuff to do XD). However, the ones that do piss me off is when _everyone _has to fall in love and drool at her for no good reason whatsoever since she is flat and boring. I've encountered both, not all Reader-inserts are horrid, but yes - there is the same formula I've noticed: hot guy somehow enters female reader's life. It's boring and cliche; try and be original like _some _of them. Most fan OC's sicken me, so I just skip it if it says so in the description._

_________****__Piece Title:__ Soda Tongue [How They Got Their Name]  
**Chapter No.: **6  
**Rating:** T (swearing)  
__**Warning: **Human AU, Nyotalia, 2Ptalia  
__**Pairing/s: **N/A  
__**Chapter Summary: **Yong Soo's little antic had caused quite a wildfire. However, Lovino cares more on meeting up with Madeleine at her house to look at the new song that she writes up. It is during that time, that the both of them realize that there are stronger emotions that are starting to bud and bloom upon spending time together.__________  
__________**Inspiration/s: **Lemonade Mouth_

* * *

When Lovino was walking to Madeleine's house that afternoon, he couldn't help but feel quite…_nervous_.

The image of her still burning in his mind.

He shook his head as he exited the bus and saw a very familiar figure walking towards the train station that he was exiting from with a small, black leather case that seemed to be storing a violin (or something like that).

"Good day to you, Lovino," Natalya greeted with a simple nod.

The Italian looked up and gave a nod of acknowledgement right back. He then arched an eyebrow upon remembering the incident of what happened earlier that day, and the absence of the Belarusian woman as well during said event. "Wait…where the hell _were _you?" he wondered.

Natalya arched an eyebrow, "And what are you talking about?"

"Well, some stuff happened in the cafeteria – Yong Soo actually-"

"Ahh, yes," Natalya then nodded, realization settling upon her usually strict face. "I heard of that already."

"_Already_?" Lovino's amber eyes widened. "Damn…shit travels fast around our school…"

"Well, what did you expect?" the Belarusian girl questioned as she raised an elegant eyebrow again. "Yong Soo is new, and to do such an act to someone who is _'looked up to' _in our school, would be considered a _huge _deal to everyone else around them. I have heard many countless rumours of Yong Soo already."

"Rumours?" Lovino frowned. "What kind of shit did they make up this time?" the Italian could definitely recall that one time that the jocks had proclaimed that one rumour about him being gay. The Italian was _not _impressed with that.

'_Shit_…' he then realized that the jock that Yong Soo had spewed soda on before had crowed that he apparently screwed that one Asian kid – Leon his name was? – in the male locker room or something like that, and it would most likely be spreading around as well in wildfire. _'Fuck my life…'_

Natalya noticed that the Italian seemed distracted about something, since his tawny eyes had a rather strange, spacey look to them that people tended to have whenever they were in deep thought. The Belarusian girl snapped her fingers a few times in front of his face, "Lovino? Lovino."

"Huh?" said Italian shook his head, and blinked. Upon realizing where he was, he flushed slightly, "S-sorry…"

Natalya gave a half-hearted shrug, "Didn't you want to know about the stupid rumours that were being made around Yong Soo?"

"Oh, yeah!" Lovino nodded before glancing at his watch quickly. He was relieved to see that he was actually a bit early. "So…what are those bastards saying about kimchi bastard?"

"Well, for one thing," Natalya began, now scowling in distaste as she remembered hearing of the false gossip after meeting someone special. "Someone has made the rumour that he is a wanted member of a gang from China…"

"_China_? Those dumbasses _do _know that _'Im Yong Soo'_ is a _Korean _name and not a Chinese one, right?" seeing Natalya shrug her shoulders again, the Italian rolled his eyes, "Dumbass fuckers…_all _of those jocks are horrible dumbass fuckers…"

The Belarusian girl scowled a bit at Lovino's remark, "Not _all _of them are horrible. But I do agree on the notion that most of them are too stupid to live. Another rumour being spread around is that Yong Soo is gay-"

"And why am I not surprised those assholes spread that?" Lovino questioned as he rolled his eyes. "Nearly _every _guy they hate gets that placed on them – I got called gay, Mitchell got called gay until they saw that Anya has the hots for him and he has the hots for her; _of course _the new kid that _spits on one of the bigass popular _bitches will start a wildfire rumour that the new bastard is gay or some shit like that."

"They're also spreading around that he's gay with you."

Here, Lovino's amber eyes bulged at the last remark, "Wait…_what _the fuck?!"

Natalya nodded, "It's apparently spreading around that Yong Soo moved to this school so the two of you could be together, and he came and intervened because he's your boyfriend. Also, the two of you are apparently fucking each other at the back of the school building and in the men's locker room-"

Lovino could only stare with his mouth dropped open as the Belarusian girl continued talking on in great detail while her face was expressionless. The Italian would've raged by now, but really, he just didn't know _what _to rage at in this instant.

And so instead, he smacked his head and heaved a heavy, exasperated sigh, _'Again. Fuck my life…'_

"Anyway, I have to go right now," Natalya then spoke up. "I have a practice for my violin recital coming up in the auditorium in the city, and I can tell that you are already busy with your own plans. You are going to Madeleine's to check on the song, correct?"

"Y-yeah…" Lovino answered back.

"I'll see you later, then…" Natalya didn't even look back at all.

Lovino again smacked his forehead, but nevertheless, continued walking on until he finally reached his destination.

Madeleine's house was a slightly larger, white two-storey one that had a black tin roof, as well as a freshly mowed front lawn. Taking a deep breath first upon realizing that he was _actually _going into the Canadian girl's house, he finally knocked on the door and Madeleine herself answered it at once. "O-oh! H-hi, Lovino," she stuttered, giving a soft smile; she was happy to see that he actually came, and on time, too!

Lovino tried to smile back, but it probably ended up looking a little funny and awkward. Damn those knots that were twisting and forming around in his stomach! "_Ciao_, _Maddalena_ – I hope I didn't come at a bad time, or something…"

"Oh, no! You didn't!" Madeleine quickly spoke up. "Mitchell and Anya told me you were coming to see the new song I wrote. Well…" she cleared her throat and opened the door wider, as well as stand to the side to let him enter. "Come on in."

The two students were both sitting outside on a backyard bench to go over the song that Madeleine had recently written. Lovino really liked it there already: though he knew that she was the sister of the loud jock, Alfred, the Italian was happy when she told him that he had gone out, and won't return until it was nine in the evening. It would definitely give him the chance to slip out before the American boy could come back and tease him with the ongoing gay rumours that Natalya had told him about.

But with him not there, it was very peaceful, and the Italian couldn't help but feel at ease.

Especially with the bespectacled girl beside him.

Madeleine's mother had poured them both some lemonade, too. "So _you're_ Madeleine's friend," she said, smiling at him.

Lovino nodded, giving her a smile back, "_Sí_, that's right…"

"You're Italian?" upon seeing Lovino nod, the woman's smile grew even wider. "That's nice! Could you possibly be the one that Maddie keeps on talking about?"

"Mama!" Madeleine's pale face was the same colour as the scarlet coat that she was wearing. She was embarrassed that the Italian was there to listen in on something so private and was referring to him. The blonde woman heaved a sigh, but had a cheeky smile planted on her face, "Okay, okay I get it; I'm leaving!" she scooted back into her house as Lovino blinked in confusion.

He tilted his head; curl swaying a little, while Madeleine was rubbing her head, face still rosy red. The brunette didn't know what to say in this sort of situation, but he soon began to wonder if the boy that Madeleine's mother was referring to, could possibly be him.

It certainly got his hopes up.

'_Otherwise, _please _let it not be the tomato bastard,' _the Italian thought to himself and decided that they should just focus back onto the song. He cleared his throat, "So…shall we get started, then?"

Madeleine nodded, her face on fire as Lovino opened the laptop and read some of the lyrics aloud, "Alright…_'I'm musically inclined, shiver down my spine every time I rhyme. In Soda Tongue, we don't learn to wait, we get on stage and _determinate_.'_" He couldn't help but grin at the lyrics, "How is this supposed to be sung, then?"

"Actually," the Canadian girl gave a small laugh. "I intended that bit to be a rap."

"Seriously?" Lovino chuckled. "I can't imagine you rapping, no offense, _Maddalena_."

Madeleine however shook her head, also laughing, "None taken! Actually, that bit was designed for somebody else to rap. Someone who _actually _can. Maybe Yong Soo or someone. Anyway," she stood up and came a little closer to Lovino and the laptop, holding sheet music that was designed for the piano. "I have the sheet music for Mitchell here and well, let's check if it's alright."

Lovino nodded, but a hint of a blush was on his olive cheeks as she leaned close over his shoulder to stare down at the computer's screen. She was practically pressing her body on him, and it made him feel very warm, and his stomach was doing back flips over and over. His heart was also starting to thump in a much more rapid pace in his chest.

The sound of a piano was playing from the laptop after Madeleine pushed the _'Enter' _key. The music was steady and calm like how Lovino would imagine Mitchell playing, only this tune was more melancholic and even a bit haunting in the Italian's opinion. Madeleine then started to sing after the piano music reached a certain point.

Her voice was soft and in a melancholic minor key to match the piano notes, "Trying hard to fight these tears; I'm crazy and worried. Messing with my head this fear. I'm so sorry."

Before he knew it, Lovino's own mouth opened, and he soon joined her. Madeleine was quite shocked when he did, and couldn't help but look at him; he had a rather lovely voice. It was deeper, but it had a nice tone to it. Though it sounded a bit soft as well (though it was also most likely due to the song itself being soft) it had strength and emotion that was etched in it.

"You know you gotta get it out; I can't take it. That's what being friend's about."

The piano part immediately stopped playing as Madeleine had programmed it to beforehand, and the two of them locked eyes.

Madeleine couldn't help but give her Italian friend a sweet, shy smile after hearing him sing. Likewise, Lovino himself didn't know what even made him sing in the first place, but he was glad that he did: she was smiling at him and him alone for now.

Her smiles were so beautiful, warm and sincere. There was also that hint of softness and shyness there, too, but that made her appear even more adorable in his eyes.

"I like the way you smile," he suddenly whispered.

Madeleine's violet-blue eyes widened when she heard him utter that one line, and all at once, her heart skipped a beat. Her cheeks were hot again, but she felt oddly pleasant at hearing it come from the Italian student, who now quickly took a glass of lemonade and downed it. Her smile became softer and shyer while Lovino refused to look, trying to concentrate on his glass.

For a while, they were in a rather awkward silence, until Madeleine cleared her throat, "Uh, anyway…shall we continue here?" she pointed at a part on the laptop screen.

"Y-Yes! Let's keep going," Lovino was still flushing like mad, but forced a smile on his face so as not to worry her.

The rest of the time that they spent together went along rather smoothly, despite the growing warm and tingling emotions that began to blossom into the hearts of the two teenagers who were working hard on that one song.

* * *

_Originally, I had an ending where Alfred was involved - that Madeleine was happier that night, and Alfred wonders on why. However, upon hearing their mother's response that Lovino had come over, Alfred becomes suspicious and goes in "protective brother" mode. XD_

_Anyway, thoughts and opinions if you want to - good day! :DDD_

_Sincerely,  
HetaWriter/HetaReader_


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